Food bank forced to launch emergency appeal

Hackney Foodbank is appealing urgently for help after experiencing a spike in demand. (Getty)

A food bank has issued an emergency appeal for funding as it struggles to meet demand amid ‘the most difficult time in living memory’.

Hackney Foodbank is making an urgent plea for help after experiencing a spike in demand and a drop in donations during the Cost of life crisis.

The organisation, based in east London, said its food purchase costs are expected to reach £250,000 this year.

It comes after UK inflation fell further last month from 10.5% in December from 10.7% but cost pressures remained intense for households as food prices hit new 45-year high by 16.8%.

Read more: Cost of living: The price of milk, cheese and butter jumps by 30%

Hackney Foodbank Bank workers and volunteers receive and organize food donations, 15th December 2021, Hackney, East London, UK.  The Hackney Food Bank is part of a national network of food banks, supported by The Trussell Trust, which fights poverty and hunger across the UK.  The food bank distributes emergency food for three days to hungry families and individuals in the borough.  The food is all donated by individuals and the donated food is kept in a small warehouse where it is sorted and packaged for distribution.  More people than ever in Britain have turned to the food bank for help and in Hackney the need has increased by 350% in the past two years.  (photo by Kristian Buus/In pictures via Getty Images)

Hackney Food Bank workers and volunteers receive and organize food donations. (Getty)

Hackney Foodbank said it was appeal for £100,000 on GoFundMe so that he can continue to provide food parcels and connect people with local organizations that can help them.

“An emergency appeal has been issued as Hackney Foodbank struggles to cope with a huge spike in demand and a drop in donations,” the organization wrote.

‘We are hoping to raise at least £100,000 to help us through what staff describe as ‘the most difficult time in living memory.

Read more: Energy Rebate Claims for Millions of Disabled and Elderly Households

Hackney Foodbank said in 2017 it only spent £2,000 a year on food, in 2018 that figure was £7,000.

But in 2022 he spent around £125,000 and this year that figure is expected to rise to £250,000.

He added: ‘£39 could help feed a family of 4 for three days with a parcel of food and household items.

Trussell Trust network food banks distributed more than 2.1 million food parcels in 2021-22 for the first time outside of the first year of the pandemic.

This is a 14% increase over the same period last year and 832,000 packages went to children.

A member of the public looks through food items inside a food bank in Hackney, northeast London, October 31, 2022. - There were dozens of people queuing outside the food bank on Monday in Hackney, a neighborhood in east London, with a voucher allowing them to get a basket containing three days' worth of food.  (Photo by Daniel LEAL/AFP) (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Hackney Foodbank distributes emergency food parcels. (Getty)

It was revealed on Wednesday that food and drink inflation had risen again to 16.8% in December from 16.4% in November, marking the highest level since September 1977.

Energy costs are also set to rise again in the spring when the government cuts its support package, capping gas and electricity bills at £3,000 a year from £2,500 currently.

The government has pledged to help halve inflation by the end of 2023.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “While any fall in inflation is welcome, we have a plan to go further and halve inflation this year, reduce debt and grow the economy – but it is essential that we make the necessary difficult decisions and carry out the plan. .”

But the Labor Party criticized the government’s economic policies and said inflation was still five times higher than the 2% target.

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