This is why Peterborough foodbanks are closing despite being used by over 2,000 local children

Thousands of children in Peterborough have needed the help of city foodbanks over the past year, it has been revealed.
Exterior of the Jigsaw Centre at Herlington where the food bank is based EMN-180716-124717009Exterior of the Jigsaw Centre at Herlington where the food bank is based EMN-180716-124717009
Exterior of the Jigsaw Centre at Herlington where the food bank is based EMN-180716-124717009

Peterborough Foodbank currently operates a number of centres across the city, helping needy residents put meals on the table.

However, they are currently restructuring the organisation, which means the closure of some existing sites.

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There are currently nine sites open in the city in various neighbourhoods.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Peterborough Foodbank has been running for five years and during that time has provided emergency food to thousands of local people who otherwise would have faced going hungry.

“In the last year, over 5,700 emergency food supplies were provided to people in crisis, and 2,038 of these went to children.

“Ultimately, what we want to see is no one in our area needing emergency food, but whilst there is a need locally, we will work hard to deliver the best possible support to people.

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“To ensure the foodbank continues to meet the needs of the community, we undertook a significant consultation to review our model of delivering emergency food, and concluded that in order to best serve local people we need to restructure.”

The restructure means the Orton foodbank, based at the Herlington Centre, will be closed - however, there will be a range of options for people who need the service in the area.

Changes have already been made with the Stanground foodbank closing, and services relocating elsewhere in the city.

The spokesman said: “the plan is to reduce the number of centres, but increase the opening times of the remaining centres.

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“The Stanground centre has already been successfully relocated to a city centre location with increased opening hours, and feedback from people referred to the centre with a foodbank voucher has confirmed that it has been easier to access emergency help.

“We are also partnering with Citizens Advice Peterborough and will host their workers at some of our foodbank centres to increase the range of support we can offer people in crisis.

“In Orton the plan is to change the current delivery model but continue to offer support for families in this area who need help through emergency food boxes.

“As well as this, the Hampton centre is open on a Thursday evening and they already see a lot of families from the Orton area, and they report that access from Orton is not a problem, so we are confident that there is a foodbank offer close to the Ortons.

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“Peterborough Foodbank will continue to offer placements to the Orton centre’s volunteers and would like to redeploy them to another centre. Alternatively, if the volunteers want to stay connected to the Orton community, they would be welcome to volunteer at Hampton.”

Residents can find more about the Peterborough Foodbank, including how to access services, how to donate items and how to volunteer, at https://peterborough.foodbank.org.uk/

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