Cost of living crisis: Amount of food being donated to Peterborough’s food banks 'not meeting the demand'

The amount of food being donated to Peterborough’s food banks is not meeting demand, as more people are using the service than ever before, according to volunteers.

The Trussell Trust charity has four food banks in Peterborough and is currently giving out 2,000 kilograms of food each week, which is 4,500 individual meals.

Councillor Dennis Jones (Labour and Cooperative/Dogsthorpe), says there has been a “steady increase” in people using food banks - including people who have “never used them in their lives before.”

Councillor Jones began volunteering at Trussell Trust’s Dogsthorpe Methodist Church food bank two years ago, before moving to the Holy Spirit Church food bank in Bretton.

“One thing that’s changed over the two years I’ve volunteered is we’ve witnessed people queuing,” he said.

“This is now due to inflation and the economic crisis. These people are finding themselves in crisis.

“You have people who have done this for a long time, the battle-scarred veterans, but you also have more older people and working people that are having to use food banks to make ends meet.”

Councillor Jones said that there is less food being donated to food banks as a result of the cost of living crisis, as “people who would usually contribute are contributing less because they can’t afford to anymore.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to go to a foodbank but it’s becoming the new normal,” he added.

“We need to normalise it from an individual point of view but not from a collective perspective because using food banks will just become the status quo.”

According to the latest figures from the Trussell Trust, the city’s four food banks handed out 10,499 food parcels between April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Cocoa Fowler, founder of Food for Nought, delivers surplus food from farms and supermarkets to food banks and community fridges in Peterborough.

“We are in a state of financial crisis,” he said. "The need for food is growing and we’re noticing a difference in people using foodbanks.”

Food for Nought delivers to 12 food banks and community fridges every week, which each give out 100 food parcels per week.

"There are more and more places getting in touch with us to set up new food banks and community fridges every day,” he said. “We’ve had another five enquiries in the last three months.

“They’re running out of food a couple of hours after it’s delivered. There’s sometimes 60 to 70 people queuing up for it.”