IMAGE: An S6 Foodbank volunteer hard at work
A Sheffield food bank has revealed it has seen a significant increase in people seeking support.
S6 Foodbank posted its statistics from April 2023 – September 2023 revealing it has supported nearly 35,000 people in the last six months.
This has gone up 27% from the previous six months.
Alison Wise, who has volunteered at S6 Foodbank for over six years, said: “A lot of organisations use figures to prove success and for us, that is not success… This year our fear is that it will be 60-65,000 (food parcels distributed), potentially more. That’s not what we want. We are very clear that success for us means we close down.
“Personally, I am very much angry and frustrated… I’ve got young kids so it’s upsetting to me. To think that there are kids going hungry every day, and have been going hungry every day is upsetting, it’s horrifying.”
The Foodbank operates by the River Don in Upperthorpe and manages to raise between £200,000 and £250,000 per year.
The statistics were published on 8 November and S6 website says one in five people in the UK lives below the poverty line.
Alison Wise said: “We are supporting around 1400 – 1500 people a week, every week at the moment… I have been volunteering for six and a bit years, when I started it was 150 people a week.
“There’s a load being done locally, the fact we are able to support that number of people and those families every single week in the city is incredible.”
The Trussell Trust runs a collection of food banks across including the S6 Foodbank.
The trust distributed 1.5 million emergency food parcels between April and September, 540,000 of these going to children.
S6 Foodbank has representatives from homeless shelters, citizen’s advice and debt support present at the food bank.
Alison Wise said: “Lack of food will be what gets people through the door, then we are able to support them with a range of other things they might have going on… it is becoming more of a hub for people that are vulnerable for one reason or another.”
You can donate, volunteer or find out more here: https://sheffields6.Foodbank.org.uk/give-help/volunteer/
Edited by James Hamilton