Coronavirus and food banks

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We’re being asked lots of questions about the possible impact of coronavirus on people needing food banks, and the support food banks will be able to provide.

This is an unprecedented challenge, and we don’t yet know how things will unfold. We’re working with our network on how best to support people, and wherever possible, food banks will continue to provide the lifeline of emergency food.

Food banks sometimes run low on certain items but we have not heard from any food bank in our network that they are currently running out of all food donations. We will continue to monitor this closely, and are working on how we can support as the situation develops. In the meantime, we encourage the public to continue donating after checking with their local food bank what items are most needed.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust said: 

“Time and again over the past decade, food banks across the UK – aided by a generous public who have donated time, food and money – have stepped up to protect people on the lowest incomes in our communities. But with the spread of coronavirus we all now face an unprecedented challenge and uncertain future. It is possible that food banks will face increased demand as people lose income, at the same time as food donations drop or staff and volunteers are unavailable, due to measures rightly put in place to slow the spread of infection. All of this comes when food banks are already dealing with a record level of need for emergency food.

“We’re working with our network on how best to support people as the situation unfolds. Wherever possible, food banks will continue to provide the lifeline of emergency food to people unable to afford the essentials and we encourage the public to continue donating after checking with their local food bank what items are most needed.

“We welcome the Department for Work and Pensions’ measures that will not penalise or sanction people for self-isolating, but we ask our government to go further and consider additional measures they could take to ensure everyone has enough money for essentials at this challenging time.  Ending the five week wait for a first Universal Credit payment would be one such measure that could help significantly.”