The Witney Food Bank, part of the Trussell Trust national network, has seen demand increasing month on month as the financial crisis continues to affect individuals and families who are struggling to deal with ever increasing bills, let alone significant increases in the cost of food. From April 2023 to April 2014, the Witney Food Bank has provided emergency parcels to 3,186 adults and 2,291 children who were in crisis and facing food poverty. Since the Witney Food Bank have been recording statistics relating to the numbers of people who receive Food Bank vouchers in 2017/18, they recorded 234 vouchers. This rose in 2021/22 to 1878 and during 2022/23 they went up to 2435.
A report published by the House of Commons Library on the work of food banks nationally, provides some alarming statistics too. The Trussel Trust distributed parcels from 1,699 locations around the UK, and there are a further 1,172 additional independent food banks around the country. The Trussel Trust has also reported that during 2022/23 that 3% of all UK individuals turned to food banks as they faced food poverty and this is likely to increase significantly for 2023/24 as more people are finding their incomes do not cover the costs of essentials like paying their mortgage/rent, utility bills and food costs.
In March 2024, the Independent Food Aid Network surveyed its food banks with almost 75% reporting that they had experienced increased demand from November 2023 to January 2024, compared to the same period the previous year, with 98% of those they supported seeking help for the first time. Citizen’s Advice nationally helped 22,452 people with food bank referrals in January which by April had decreased to 19,810 in April 2024. The April to April figures showed an increase of 1,5675 from the previous April and 6,602 more referrals than in April 2022.
Clients who are experiencing an unexpected financial crisis situation are referred to the food bank by various professionals working in the community, including the Citizens Advice Bureau, Job Centre, West Oxfordshire District Council, Turning Point, doctor/GP, social and other health workers, local schools. All assess each client’s situation to verify their crisis and need. Once issued with a food bank voucher which is exchanged for a simple box of food this makes a big difference, with foodbanks helping prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdowns and mental health problems.
Local food banks such as the Witney Food Bank, are also struggling as the rising cost of living has result in fewer food or financial donations being made. Thanks to the support of companies and individuals, who make both food and financial donations the food bank, needs more support than ever in order for them to meet increasing demand. Since the start of the year, they have had to spend almost £60,000 to top up stock supplies.
Witney Food Bank is an entirely volunteer-run project located at the back of the building owned by Cottsway House at Heynes Place, Avenue Two, Witney OX28 4YG. The number of volunteers has increased with 90 people volunteering their time to collect food from local supermarket collection points, make deliveries where required to disabled, elderly and housebound clients, sort food donated and carefully pack the parcels according to the number of people each one is needed for. The food bank is open Monday to Friday from 10 am until 2pm but volunteers also get involved in regular food collections and awareness campaigns outside supermarkets in the area.
Mick Morris, Chair of the Witney Food Bank, has also been instrumental in setting up a Financial Inclusion Project alongside the Citizens Advice Bureau which is now in its second year. As clients struggle to deal with their financial debts, they are referred to one of the three specially appointed caseworkers who can assess their finances, restructure their repayments, help them navigate the benefits system and hopefully ease their financial pressures going forward. “This scheme was set up initially as a pilot in the Witney area,” Mick explains. “However, it now covers the county with our three case workers covering four food banks at Witney, Abingdon, Banbury and Bicester. By assisting people in financial crisis to see how they can cope better, alleviates longer term financial problems, helping to restore our clients’ mental health and in turn keeps families together. Since the Financial Inclusion Project was established, people continue to face the same financial difficulties of Council Tax arrears, credit card debts as they struggle to pay bills and rent arrears. However, 350 people have received assistance with the total of the financial outcomes exceeding £235,000 for clients in the Witney area alone.”
If you are a local company or organisation, or an individual, and would like to support Witney Food Bank there are several ways you can get involved:
Financial donations are more important than ever as they enable the food bank to buy supplies that are needed at wholesale prices from a local distributor. Even those wholesale prices have risen dramatically by 30% since the start of April 2022. You can make a financial donation by visiting totalgiving.co.uk/donate/witney-and-west-oxfordshire-food-bank
Food donations, either at one of the supermarket collection points or even better, brought directly into the food bank centre. Please ensure that the items are non-perishable, in-date and will help to provide a minimum of three days nutritionally balanced food and essentials such as toiletries, toilet paper, along with dog and cat food. Although there is a fridge and deepfreeze which is stocked each week thanks to the generosity of Jolly Foods in Carterton, ambient food storage in the warehouse is limited. Essential items which are running low each week and need to be restocked can be found on the Witney and West Oxfordshire Food Bank Facebook and Instagram pages. Stock items include breakfast cereals, tinned soup, beans, tinned vegetables and meat/fish, tinned fruit, tea/coffee/hot chocolate, pasta, rice, pasta sauces, sugar, biscuits and snacks alongside sanitary products and toiletries.
Volunteering with the food bank will give you the opportunity to work with other like-minded people who are the driving force behind running the food bank so effectively. There is a great team spirit and whilst the volunteers only work in small groups, new friends are made whilst they are doing essential work. There are various roles that people can get involved in so if you would like to be considered or have particular skills or ideas that you think could prove useful, email jade@witney.foodbank.org.uk or fill out the contact form on their website, changing the drop-down menu to ‘Apply to Volunteer’ at witney.foodbank.org.uk/contact-us.
Mick concludes: “We don’t think anyone in our community should have to face going hungry. We know that anyone can find themselves at crisis point for a number of different reasons. In order to provide the most appropriate help for the circumstances of your situation, we work with local agencies. If they feel you are struggling to put food on the table, they will be able to refer you having taken some basic details from you. This will help them identify the cause of your crisis and offer practical guidance. It also means that we are able to prepare suitable emergency food for the right number of people
To find out more about how you can support Witney Food Bank or if you need support yourself simply visit witney.foodbank.org.uk
