Southend Foodbank urgently needs donations – both food and cash are needed right now as the foodbank faces substantial shortfall between the food coming into the foodbank and the amount needed to keep supporting people in our community struggling to afford the basics. The foodbank purchased £13k of food in January and February, as both funds and stock are being squeezed through 2023.
After highlighting how much more food has needed to be purchased, just to keep up with more people turning to their local foodbank, Greatest Hits Radio Essex interviewed Cass Francis at Southend Foodbank. Across the station’s news bulletins, listeners in Essex heard that spending on food was higher than ever in response to a widening gap between donations of food and the amount needed to pack the emergency 3-day parcels required for the foodbank’s distribution centres across Southend and Rochford.
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Southend Foodbank has spent over £13,000 in the first two months of this year to keep up with increasing demand.
Cass Francis explained just how bad it is:
“I spent last year going on about how we kept breaking records, and it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. If you compared 2021 to 2023, in the same period, 246% increase in the amount of people using the foodbank.”
More in the full press release.
To donate, please visit our Donate Money and Donate Food pages.