Charity records shocking 180 per cent increase in use of emergency aid centres

Foodbanks in Hackney are seeking donations from residents and businesses to cope with increasing demand. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval

Shocking new figures released by UK Foodbank charity The Trussell Trust reveal foodbank usage in London has increased by 180 per cent in the past 12 months with over 42,000 Londoners seeking emergency food that will last them for three days.

Rising costs of living, changes to the benefit system, unemployment and static incomes have exacerbated the crisis and it is believed the figures for 2013-14 will increase still further as the welfare reforms imposed in April coupled with July’s new benefit cap truly kick in.

In Hackney there are currently two foodbanks operating out of Stoke Newington and Hoxton, but there are plans to open a new centre in Upper Clapton this summer and another in Hackney Central in order to meet the increasing demand for emergency help.

Hackney Foodbank project manager Liza Cucco said the charity is providing a service of short term, fast acting crisis intervention.

Ms Cucco said: “The idea is that when people get into a crisis situation they can be referred to Foodbank. We only take people who have demonstrated that they have no resources to provide food for themselves or their family and there are no other options available to them.

“The majority of people we help we only help them once or twice, beyond that people will not be able to access the foodbank and that’s because there is a limit to the support we can give and because we do not want to create a culture of dependency.”

The most striking observation about those who have come to access the Foodbank is their diversity. It is not solely those who are unemployed or on benefits; there are also the sick, those who have been made redundant, women who have been victims of domestic violence as well as employed people with wages that simply cannot make ends meet.

All different yet united in thinking they would never end up in a situation like this.

An alarming amount of referrals have been as a direct result of the benefits sanctions regime described by Oxfam’s UK Poverty Programme as a system that “exposes people to the risk of destitution”.

Hackney Foodbank is bracing itself for a very busy few years as the demand for their service is set to increase.

They believe the involvement of local businesses and institutions is key to their future growth and success with creative ideas like coffee mornings with friends and colleagues or local pubs and restaurants putting on a collection event or simply having a collection point in your office.

If individuals want to make donations Ms Cucco says Hackney Foodbank is extremely short on a number of items such as tinned fish or meat, tinned fruit and vegetables, as well as UHT milk and juice.

Food can be donated by bringing it to their office at St Matthias Vicarage, Wordsworth Road, Stoke Newington, every Thursday or by dropping it at Safestore at 4 Somerford Grove, Stoke Newington, where they have a permanent collection point.

There are also a couple of volunteering opportunities that would require a degree of commitment. To find out more details e-mail info@hackney.foodbank.org.uk