News

Record numbers asking for help

18th November 2021

Foodbank warehouse shelves

Applications to the Foodbank for support have increased by almost 35% this year compared with 2020, when demand went up by the same amount from the previous year.

“This is a staggering rise in need,” commented Stephen Palmer, the Foodbank’s Project Manager.

Run in partnership with the town’s churches, the Foodbank provided almost 9500 meals in six months between April and September this year. More than a third of these were for children.

“In the whole of 2020 we provided just over 14,000 meals. The statistics show that poverty in Faversham and the surrounding villages is rising steadily,” Stephen said.

“People from all walks of life and backgrounds are struggling to feed themselves and their families. Many are faced with a heart-rending choice of whether to buy food for their family or to keep debt collectors from the door because they cannot afford their rent, pay gas and electricity bills, or put petrol in the car,” he continued.

Demand for the Foodbank’s support is expected to continue to climb because the Covid-19 furlough scheme has ended and the government has refused to continue the £20 weekly uplift to Universal Credit introduced during the pandemic.

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