Daniel Hilton
Volunteers are packing fresh vegetables into paper bags and laying out leaflets signposting forms of support as we arrive at Southwark Foodbank in London. It’s run by the hard-working team at Pecan, a Peckham-based charity, and we’re at one of the four sessions they run each week. The kettle is boiling, so people can be welcomed with a warm cup of tea or coffee. Food parcels contain non-perishables, but thanks to a delivery via a partnership with food redistribution charity The Felix Project, today, clients can also get some fresh items, like potatoes, apples and spring onions, too.
Southwark Foodbank is one of 1,400 food banks in anti-poverty charity Trussell’s network across the UK. We’re visiting to see first-hand the vital work that they do and how they help households, as part of MoneyWeek’s Christmas charity appeal, in support of Trussell.
More than 14.1 million people in the UK, including 3.8 million children, faced hunger in the past year due to a lack of money, according to Trussell’s Hunger in the UK report. In the same period, 6.5 million, including 4.6 million adults and 1.9 million children, needed to turn to charitable food provision, such as a food bank, soup kitchen, food pantry or social supermarket.
While unemployment and difficulty finding work is affecting many households, paid work is also not protecting people from hardship, the team at Southwark Foodbank explain. Some are struggling to make ends meet on minimum wage and/or zero-hour contracts. It seems to be a widespread issue – three in ten (30%) people referred to food banks in the Trussell community are in working households.
Southwark Foodbank provides other support, as well as food. Pecan, and Trussell, are passionate about trying to help address the underlying issues which mean people turn to a food bank. At some of the Southwark Foodbank sessions, clients can speak to advisers from Thames Reach and Citizens Advice, getting help with things like benefit checks, issues with budgeting, debt management, and access to safe and suitable housing.
Having these services available at the food bank sessions is really important, explains Kevin Baddeley, a generalist advice caseworker at Citizens Advice who attends two sessions each week. A lot of the people he meets haven’t come across Citizens Advice before. “It’s only because I’m there, and the people at the session are pointing out that I’m there to speak to, that I can make them aware of the services we offer,” he says. Making that contact, and raising awareness of the help and support is critical. He also helps people who are at risk of digital exclusion with accessing support. Worryingly, the funding for his role is due to end in August 2026.
“We have definitely seen that where you do provide the support to people, it does make a difference,” Genevieve Osei-Kuffuor, Southwark Foodbank manager, says. She’s found some clients have no longer needed to use the food bank, or need to come “a lot less”, after seeking support from an adviser at the food bank.
"Food banks are doing more and more," says Emily Monaghan-Coombs, Pecan’s foodbank projects development manager
A lot of thought goes into the work the staff and volunteers do – I can feel just how much they care about supporting their clients. As well as the regular food bank sessions, Pecan runs a wide range of projects to help support people in the community. But there is great concern over funding the food bank, as well as Pecan’s other services such as The Pantry – a social supermarket which, for £5 per shop, gives access to fresh fruit and vegetables and other groceries worth £15 or more. Pecan has seen a decline in funding from trusts and foundations, as well as individual donations.
“We are struggling in a big way, with funding streams coming to an end,” says Shahid Mughal, head of food services and finance. “It's a really difficult environment at the moment. On the one hand, you've got funding going down and then you've got your demand going up.”
“Food banks are doing more and more, because they’re filling the gaps in terms of the community and local services,” says Emily Monaghan-Coombs, Pecan’s foodbank projects development manager. Delivering the additional services require more resources, she explains, but “they are going to help the person who’s referred to the food bank improve their circumstances”.
“Food is just part of the story,” says Shahid. “It’s all the services that you need to provide. For example, running out of funding for a CAB [Citizens Advice] adviser next year is going to have a negative impact.” Whether they have enough funds for the community support officer or to pay staff to run the food bank sessions is also a worry.
Food parcels provide a lifeline to struggling households
Southwark Foodbank relies on generous donations from within the community, which requires a lot of co-ordination.
To run the food bank, the team needs to collect food from the 18 collection points around the borough. “You need a logistics network to do that,” Shahid explains.
In the warehouse, we meet the volunteers who prepare food parcels for around 120 households each week. Meanwhile, drivers are collecting and transporting donations, and others sort the items once they arrive at the warehouse. The team is incredibly grateful for all of the donations, which get sorted into different zones in the packing station. The food parcels provide three days’ worth of food, based on Trussell guidelines.
As well as non-perishable items, such as pasta and rice, beans, and canned meat and fish, they also welcome other essentials – like nappies, shampoo and period products. Sometimes they may run low on items, and will put out specific communications to donors, and put shopping lists by the supermarket donation points.
A warm welcome at every food bank session
Giving a warm welcome is really important to Trussell and Southwark Foodbank.
“Food banks are a lifeline for people facing hardship, but they offer far more than emergency food," Lynda Battarbee, director of operations at Trussell, says. "They provide hope, dignity and a warm welcome.
"For someone walking through the doors of a food bank, the experience can feel nerve-wracking - but what people often find is compassion and understanding from staff and volunteers.
"A simple conversation over a cup of tea can be the first time someone feels truly listened to and that moment can be transformative. It’s not just about meeting immediate needs but also connecting people to vital services such as housing support, mental health care or social security.
"These connections can help to reduce the likelihood that they’ll need to use the food bank again."
Benjamin, who has been volunteering here for a year, is offering a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate to anyone needing help.
Meanwhile, Sara, who has volunteered at food banks for 10 years, including five at Southwark, and new volunteer Lily, at her first session, distribute extra donations, which can’t go in the standard food parcel, but are much-appreciated. They tactfully highlight other essentials like period products that are available in a basket for those who may need them.
MoneyWeek visited Southwark Foodbank to see the important work that they do in the community first-hand.
It’s a fairly busy session, I later learn. I reflect on my conversation with David Wilson, 46, who had to turn to his local food bank in Norfolk in April 2022.
“A lot of people are struggling, and it's not localised in one area, it's across every part of our society,” he said.
That was certainly something I noticed. I met pensioners, families and young people who were all in need of support.
As David, who lives with a degenerative bone condition and a number of other issues, pointed out, you don't have to be out of work to be suffering financial poverty.
MoneyWeek recognises the important work Trussell does in providing a lifeline with food banks and campaigning for change, to end hunger for good. That’s why we are fundraising for Trussell this Christmas.
"No one in the UK should need to use a food bank, yet last year food banks in our community provided 2.9 million emergency parcels to people facing hardship – a 51% increase compared to five years earlier," Ayaz Manji, head of policy at Trussell, says.
"We want to see a future where no one is forced to turn to a food bank because everyone has enough money to afford the essentials, like food and heating. But right now, our social security system is failing to meet those needs."
If you are able to, please donate to our Christmas charity appeal. You can find the link here. Thank you so much for your support.
At MoneyWeek, we regularly write about the economy, carefully picking through each month’s data on inflation, unemployment, energy prices, and GDP growth.
When looking at numbers on a page, it can be easy to get disconnected from what they actually mean for people’s lives. Higher inflation isn’t just a headline – it means a parent can no longer afford to make their child a lunchbox, or a pensioner can’t afford to keep the heating on in the winter.
That’s why MoneyWeek is proud to have partnered with Trussell for our Christmas appeal. The charity provides a safety net for those in society who are bearing the brunt of the UK’s economic woes.
The work of Trussell, and the food banks in its community, is far more than providing a few days’ worth of food. They are seeking to end the ballooning use of food banks by attacking the root causes of the problem.
That is the most important part of their work. Staff and volunteers told MoneyWeek that food bank usage is an income problem, not a food problem. People often do not know what support is available to them and therefore get stuck in a vicious cycle of food insecurity.
But with charities hit with declining budgets, the services attacking the root problem will face cutbacks.
With your support, you can enable Trussell to do far more than making sure families don’t go hungry this Christmas. You can help families break the cycle of food insecurity and get back on their feet again.
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