4 November 2022

Generous co-operative customers help the UK's busiest foodbank

Eastbourne Foodbank has thanked customers and colleagues at a local co-operative store who have made donations at a time when they are seeing a 116% increase on the same period in 2021.

Volunteers from Eastbourne Foodbank need to make a weekly visit to The Co‑operative Food in ​Eastbourne, Lindfield Road, as customers' generosity means the food bank collection point is often full to the brim.

This week, the store colleagues added to the donation with 10 large trays of other goods worth hundreds of pounds. Donations included nappies, pasta sauces, meal kits and biscuits.

Mark Titherly, Warehouse and Distribution Manager at Eastbourne Foodbank, said: "We would like to thank the co-operative, its customers and the many people in Eastbourne who are able to donate. This is a very busy time for us and we expect that trend to continue through the winter.

"The support and generosity from the public is much appreciated and will help many households who are struggling to make ends meet."

Eastbourne Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust, is the busiest in the UK, per 100,000 people, and is seeing increasing numbers of people in need of emergency food amid the cost of living crisis.

It has a warehouse in Eastbourne and foodbank satellites in church halls and community centres across Eastbourne each week day to cope with the demand.

Ella Weeks, Store Manager at the co-operative store which is part of Southern Co-op, said: "We have a food collection point in store which fills up every week from customer donations. Last quarter donations from our customers helped 429 people with food.

"We have some incredibly generous regular donors including one lady who comes in to check what is missing from the existing donations and what is needed before making her donations.

"With the way the world is going at the moment I think it's so much nicer to donate to the people that need it. We all need to donate where we can."

Members of the public are now able to get a real-time shopping list by downloading the ‘Bank the Food' app. This gives a list of the foodbank's most-needed items to make sure volunteers are able to provide essential food and toiletries.

In September 2022, Eastbourne Foodbank provided food for 2,559 people. That's a 116% increase on the same period in 2021.

Jess Holliday, Campaign and Communications Manager for Eastbourne Foodbank, said: "We believe large-scale foodbanks should not be the answer to the cost of living crisis. We feel everyone should have enough money to afford the essentials.

"While demand is so high, we will provide our service with dignity and compassion but we also campaign for change for the increasing number of people who are now living in poverty." 

To find out more about Eastbourne Foodbank, visit eastbourne.foodbank.org.uk. Or to find your nearest Southern Co-op store with a food bank collection point, visithttps://stores.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk/search.html.