This December, EFFB is bracing itself for busiest December yet as new figures suggest record number of people in crisis will need support ahead of Christmas. With Christmas only a few weeks away, the Trussell Trust is concerned new figures from December 2018, taken alongside the increase in food bank parcels needed so far this year, suggest more people than ever will need a food bank’s help.
The new figures follow the recent publication of State of Hunger, the most in-depth study to date into hunger and the drivers of food bank use in the UK. The research revealed:
- The average weekly income of households at food banks is only £50 after paying rent
- One in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food
- 94% of people at food banks are destitute
State of Hunger shows there are three drivers hitting people simultaneously and leaving no protection from hunger and poverty. These drivers are problems with the benefits system, ill health or challenging life experiences, and a lack of local support.
We expect to provide over 3,000 meals in the three weeks leading up to Christmas and want to thank everyone who has donated to help us provide this vital service to our clients.
We currently have plenty of food donations thanks to local generosity in last week’s Tesco collection – so if you’re thinking of donating, we’d love for you to donate financially and help us cover the cost of providing vital support to people in our community.– Heather Scholer, Project Manager
If you are in the midst of collecting food donations for us, please ensure they are delivered to us on or before 6th December so that we can ensure they are available to our clients for Christmas. If you are thinking of donating this year, would you consider gifting financially so that we can ensure that we can provide emergency food to people in crisis throughout the year?
Find out more about financial giving this Christmas please click here.
Once again we would like to thank you so much for your support throughout the year.
Merry Christmas from everyone at Epping Forest Foodbank.