A food bank serving the London neighbours of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted it could struggle to survive this winter after distributing a record number of meals.
Greenwich food bank distributes 4.5 tonnes of food to struggling families each week despite receiving 3.5 tonnes worth of physical donations.
Jamie Ginns, chief executive of the food bank, said it is facing “serious operational issues” this winter as the cost-of-living crisis continues to cause unprecedented levels of demand.
Mr Ginns told the Standard: “The general public have never failed to be adequately generous in the past. But we are finding ourselves having to shout louder than ever before and we’re very aware that the cost-of-living crisis impacts peoples’ ability to give beyond their usual capacity.
“We expect to make it through. However, if things continue the way they are, there’s no way to guarantee that.”
The public is facing the biggest drop in living standards since records began in 1956 amid the cost of living crisis, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Meanwhile, food prices have increased by 12 per cent a year in the UK - the highest rate for 30 years - and household energy bills have soared to a record-high.
Greenwich food bank said it had distributed 92,000 emergency meals to residents this year – already more than last year’s total – and that it was forecast to hit 130,000 by Christmas Day.
The Prime Minister lives close to the food bank. Ms Truss has a home in Greenwich and has lived in the area with her husband and two daughters for more than 15 years.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is thought to live on the same street of period homes west of Greenwich Park.
Mr Ginns urged the government to do more as people “deploy more and more shocking ways to get through this crisis”.
He added: “Some people are now cooking entirely using microwaves, others using camping stoves and others who are not putting on their heating. We have parents going without food to make sure their children can eat.
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“There are people who come to us and have clearly waited until their real hour of need to use a food bank – people showing up physically hungry and cold.”
Mr Ginns admitted that the fear of failing to meet demand “keeps me up at night”.
“If people that have donated to us in the past are unable to donate to us in the same degree that they have then we could face real trouble. That’s where it’s at.”
Bankuet, which works with Greenwich food bank, is a London-based startup and the number one supplier to food banks in the UK.
The firm, which carried out a survey of 64 food banks across Britain, found that almost all were facing soaring demand at a time of falling donations.
Robin Ferris, the chief executive of Bankuet, has urged to government to do more as demand for food banks rises as donations fall.
He said: “The research is incredibly worrying. More people are using food banks now than they were at the height of the Covid lockdowns. Some people at London food banks have begun asking for food that doesn’t need heating up because they can’t afford to heat it.
“Demand for food banks is going up while public donations are falling due to the cost of living crisis.”
To make a donation to Greenwich food bank, please follow this link: Greenwich — Bankuet ®
