Peterborough Food Bank: "People are just struggling to be able to pay the electricity bill and put food on the table"

A plea for more donations to Peterborough Food Bank has been put out – as more people are in need of emergency help in the city.

While the number of residents needing the vital food parcels supplied by the charity has significantly increased in recent years, the number of donations received has dropped.

As the winter months arrive, bringing freezing weather, more and more people are having to chose between heating and eating – and the charity is looking for more people to help.

"We are seeing more people come and needing food who are actually in work, and they're working full time"

Julie Gooding, Community Action Development Worker who works at the food bank – which is located at Dodson House in Fengate – said: “We will be ramping up now because it's cold and it's winter and we will start to see more people using us.

“We have seen a massive growth in the last two years, since COVID, We've seen a 38 per cent increase in uses of the Peterborough Food Bank but conversely, a 10 per cent decline in donations. We have seen a 25 per cent drop in people putting food in the collection points at supermarkets.

"Obviously a cost of living crisis will affect everybody.

"We are seeing more people come and needing food who are actually in work, and they're working full time. But they can't make ends meet with the rising cost of food, the rising cost of fuel of bills. People are just struggling to be able to pay the electricity bill and put food on the table.

"So they get to a point where they need food for themselves and their children. So they're having to rely on the food banking to get that help.”

“We want to make sure the people who are in crisis can get more help than just their food.”

The food parcels given out by the Peterborough Food Bank are designed to last for three days, and are built especially for the people who receive them – whether a family with children or an individual.

To be able to access the parcels, people need to be approved by social services and be given a voucher – and along with the emergency food parcels, people visiting the bank are able to get advice to help them in other areas of their lives.

Julie said: “We want people to not be stuck in food crisis. This is one of the reasons we work with agencies, so that people have a relationship around them that can support them, to make a journey to look at other aspects of their lives and see if there's anything that can be done to help them.

"We do offer Citizens Advice slots to people with the food bank voucher that are coming to our centres so that they can get specialist help and advice, because this is crisis provision. But we don't want people to stay in the emergency crisis.

"You can get a voucher through your maybe your Housing Association, through any agency that you work alongside any health and social care agencies should be able to support you, or maybe your doctor's surgery or your school.

"There are many places but we are a referral, based food provider for two reasons.

“One is that we want to make sure that all our food goes to somebody who really needs it. And secondly, we want to make sure the people who are in that crisis can get more help than just their food.”

What food is needed – and how can you donate?

The Food Bank has a shopping list set up to help people who wish to donate food make sure they are giving the things that are needed most – however all food is always well received. – the link is https://peterborough.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/

People can also donate money to help the Food Bank – they currently spend £6,000 per month

The shopping list, which is regularly updated, is split into a number of sections – and the ‘urgently needed’ items are: Tinned Meat (meatballs ,Sausages in Beans , Chilli Con carne), Instant Mash, Squash, Tinned Soup, and Tinned Fruit.

The ‘Items needed’ section includes: Long life Fruit Juice, tinned puddings and biscuits.

The ‘Items we have plenty of’ section includes: Baked Beans, Pulses, Pasta and Toilet Rolls.

Food donated must be in date – so please no out of date or very near its expiry date items – and they cannot accept baby milk formula products.

Julie said: “There are various ways you can donate. You can either go into one of our donation supermarkets and buy some food and put it into one of the donation bins in there, or you can purchase the food and bring it to our warehouse at Dodson House, Fengate. (The warehouse is open Monday to Friday from 10am – 1pm on Saturday 10.30am to 12.30pm)

"Or you can donate to us financially, and there is a giving page on the Peterborough Food Bank website.”

“The volunteers want to help, they want to give back, and they want to make sure that the people of Peterborough have food to eat.”

The charity relies on volunteers to keep it running – and Julie was full of praise for the team.

She said: “We've absolutely love our volunteers across the food bank. We've got about 130 and literally the food bank would not run without volunteers. “We only have about three part-time workers, who do various bits of admin and organisation everything else is done by volunteers.

“We have four centres across the city where the food is being given out. The centres are run by volunteer, team leaders, our warehouses run by volunteers, and we can do any of it without them and we absolutely love them.

"They're amazing people with big hearts for the community. They want to help, they want to give back, and they want to make sure that the people of Peterborough have food to eat.”

Where can I donate?

The supermarkets where there are collection points in Peterborough are:

Tesco, Serpentine Green, Hampton

Tesco Werrington

Waitrose, Mayors Walk

Sainsbury’s, Oxney Road

Co-op, Ortongate Shopping Centre, Orton

Sainsbury’s Bretton Centre

Asda, West Rivergate Shopping Centre

The warehouse is open at Dodson House, Fengate.