Runnymede Foodbank is essential, even as we emerge from the pandemic
UK food bank rose use by a third during the past 12 months. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic left more people without the money to buy basic necessities. Food banks working with the Trussell Trust handed out more than 2.5 million food parcels in the year through March, up from 1.9 million a year earlier. Those figures represent only a partial picture of the increasing need because independent food aid providers also expanded during the pandemic.
We all wish that we lived in a world where no one needed emergency food. Yet we know that right now, it is really needed. Food banks have been giving out record numbers of food parcels as more and more families are struggling and do not have the money they need for essentials.
We know that the British economy shrank by about 10% amid the pandemic. It will take some time to recover and we know that the impact upon the most vulnerable families will be long-lasting. It is often poorer households who suffer the most.
I am so grateful that Runnymede Food Bank is working on my local area, to help those most in need. Yes, we all want longer term solutions to assist the most vulnerable households, so that eventually no one need ever visit a food bank. But for now, we see an acute need right in front of us and we must respond as best we can. That is why the Leus Family Foundation was proud to support the Runnymede Food Bank during the pandemic and will continue to do so going forward.
The Runnymede Food Bank believes that no one in our community should have to face going hungry. That’s why they provide three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. They are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.
You can donate directly to the Runnymede Food Bank or consider a donation to the Trussell Trust, which works with food banks all over the UK.
