Help the Hungry: The food charities that need volunteers to get supplies to neighbours

Struggling food charities have told The Independent they are in need of volunteers and donations to deal with overwhelming demand during the coronavirus outbreak.

Our Help The Hungry campaign aims to support all those in danger of going without food because of job losses, a fall in income or self-isolation.

Food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson has backed the campaign on Twitter and asked her fans to donate.

The Food4 project, run by YMCA Bedfordshire, contacted The Independent to tell us about their difficulties in getting supplies out to vulnerable people in the area.

Before the pandemic, the charity would take surplus food donated by supermarkets and redistribute to those in need at its main centre in Bedford. It is now offering a delivery service to people having to self-isolate, and otherwise unable to get food.

“The big change is the financial hardship we’re seeing, and the huge level of demand,” said Rebecca Ireland, the operations manager at YMCA Bedfordshire.

“We used to see 30 to 40 people a day, and on Friday it was at least double that number. Some of them have seen a drop in incomes, or they’re not sure when they’re going to be working again.”

Ms Ireland said: “We’re also dealing with a drop off in volunteers because many of them are older and staying at home. I would normally have 35 [volunteers] or so, but at the moment there’s only three people. We would welcome food donations, financial donations and volunteers.

“We do have some money to buy more supplies, but we could do with wider agreement with the big supermarkets to let food charities register and buy supplies they need in bulk,” the operations manager added.

“We also welcome the sharing of good ideas through the Help The Hungry campaign, as we have to let people across the country who might never have needed help before know what’s there for them.”

Pastor Obi Onyeabor, the manager at Barking Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust’s national network, said around a dozen of his pool of 50 volunteers are self-isolating. “We’re appealing for more people to come and help,” he said.

Mr Onyeabor and his remaining team are also managing to make home deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays to make sure the most vulnerable get supplies. He said the number of people asking for help had doubled in the last two weeks.

“Some of the supermarket managers in the area are flexible about us buying in bulk, but not all of them. We are trying to communicate with them that it doesn't make sense for several of our staff to keep making trips back and forth to abide by the rationing restrictions.”

Across Britain, larger hubs are now being set up by local authorities to distribute food to vulnerable people in need, with the first council-run centres opening in London this week.

The Independent and sister title the Evening Standard have teamed up with The Felix Project – a charity we helped launch in 2016 – to help it deliver food to the new hubs and support smaller charities and food projects.

We are also asking food aid charities across the UK to contact helpthehungry@independent.co.uk to tell us about your project and what problems you are facing right now.

You can help us build a directory of ways that our readers can help the hungry in their area – through money, volunteering and food donations. Find out more on how you can support the campaign here.