STRATFORD Foodbank still desperately needs donations despite a slight decline in the number of people requiring emergency food parcels in the past 12 months.
A total of 5,102 emergency food parcels were provided to people in the Stratford area facing hardship between April 2024 and March 2025, with 1,858 of these provided for children.
This comes as new annual figures from Trussell show that 2.9 million food parcels were provided across the UK.
The anti-poverty charity says this should be a ‘wake-up call’ for the UK government to strengthen the social security system and re-think cuts to welfare that risk forcing more people to food banks.
Stratford Foodbank has actually seen a four per cent decrease in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year but foodbank manager Kate Morris said they are still desperate for donations as less people are in a position to donate.
She continued: “We are experiencing a consistently high level of need for emergency food parcels locally. A lot of our clients are housed in temporary accommodation, guest houses or B&Bs, which makes eating very expensive, or suffering from ill health meaning they are unable to work and can’t survive on their Universal Credit payments.
“As a foodbank we are seeing our donations decline year-on-year as an increasing number of people who previously donated are drawn into the cost of living crisis themselves.
“If more people who are in a position to help would donate a small amount regularly, this would make a massive difference. This might be a tin or packet in the supermarket donation basket each week or a regular small monthly standing order, both of these really help us.
“Alternatively if you are not in a position to donate yourself, organising a fundraising event is also a brilliant way to support us – we have had a variety of recent events from running a plant sale stall to a black tie fundraising dinner.”
Visit stratforduponavon.foodbank.org.uk/ for details on how to donate.
