Food poverty: a larger problem in the UK than you might think; imagine having to make a choice whether to go without dinner, or pay for your utility bill.
In 2022/23 there were 7.2 million people (11% of the UK population), in households experiencing food poverty.
The Trussell Trust is an anti-poverty charity and community of foodbanks – it supplied the highest recorded number of 3-day emergency food parcels that same year.
Wimbledon Foodbank is part of the larger Trussel Trust network.
It has many centres and locations for anyone who needs emergency food.
The organisation has provided 51,500 meals for people in Merton so far in 2024.
The food bank takes donations from churches, supermarkets, local organisations, schools, businesses and individuals.
The donations include long life milk, tinned foods, cereals, jams, noodles, pasta, and rice; however no fresh food is collected.
I had the opportunity to speak to Tiajh Walton, Project manager at Wimbledon Foodbank.
She spoke to me about how in 2011, the food bank was set up as a response to poverty by Christian charities – simple parcels were given out, and slowly the foodbank grew, becoming part of the Trussel Trust.
It was recognised that some people saw food as a luxury- they were swapping food for other things such as bills which took priority.
Wimbledon foodbank is a network of 5 food banks:1 in Morden, 3 in Mitcham, and 1 in Wimbledon.
Tiajh explained that to be a recipient of food, a referral is needed from places such as social services, a social prescriber, or for example, schools.
This significant network holds 80 volunteers, as well as most of the main office being run by volunteers as well.
Items are sent to a warehouse, where they are sorted and packed by volunteers.
The driver then distributes the packages to one of the five locations; those with a physical or mental disability may have the package delivered to their home.
However, the foodbank has faced some challenges, in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic - there were limited volunteers in the building, and donations dropped by 30% as a result. Cost of living was increasing so items were becoming more expensive to buy and donate. Many people also turned up without referrals as during Covid, it was difficult to get one. But after Covid, the service has slowly recovered and donations have started to increase again.
Tiajh explained that in Merton, many families and individuals cannot afford Christmas meals.
“We knew this was something different we wanted to do” she stated, so there is a campaign to introduce a new £10pp supermarket voucher that families can put towards provisions for a Christmas Day meal.
January is another challenge: it can sometimes be a “dry month” for donations as people spend less after Christmas.
If you would like to donate to the foodbank, in particular to the Christmas Day Meal Voucher scheme, here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/christmas-day-meal-vouchers-2024
References:
Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals - House of Commons Library
Wimbledon Foodbank | Helping Local People in Crisis (link to donate as well)
