News – Holme Valley Foodbank

Good News!

We can now accept online donations!

We are helping more people than ever before – and we don’t see the need for the foodbank decreasing anytime soon. If you’d like to support us with a one off or a regular donation please click the green button below.

Millions forced to skip meals as cost of living crisis deepens

“Millions of people were forced to skip meals or go a whole day without eating in recent months, new data shows.”

“Hunger levels have more than doubled since January…with nearly 10 million adults and 4 million children unable to eat regular meals last month…” read more here

We’re pricing the poor out of food in the UK

“A whole section of society is being cut adrift by the rising cost of supermarket shopping.” Read more from Jack Monroe

People are struggling to feed their kids now

“People live so precariously. One wrong turn, one cancelled shift or broken fridge, can tip them over the edge.” Powerful article by Sirin Kale in The Guardian 10 November about how our friends at The Welcome Centre Food Bank in Huddersfield are facing a surge in demand. We’re a much smaller foodbank seeing the same issues. 💔

Footballer Marcus Rashford takes aim at child food poverty

Marcus said: “I spoke to a mother recently who, along with her two young sons, is currently living off three slices of bread a day – soaking them in hot water and adding sugar, hoping that the porridge consistency might better sustain the hunger of her one-year old child,” “This is the true reality of England in 2020.” read more here

Holme Valley Food Bank recognised for outstanding service to the community…

We have some wonderful news to share! Liz, Holme Valley Food Bank chair, explains in her video message that the Food Bank has been recognised for its ‘outstanding service to the community during the Covid 19 crisis’ in a message from the Queen’s representative in West Yorkshire Lord Lieutenant, Ed Anderson. See what the Lord Lieutenant himself has to say here

You can see more of our videos on YouTube

See our videos on YouTube

UK food banks face record demand in coronavirus crisis

The first two weeks of the coronavirus lockdown triggered an unprecedented rise in food bank use as the economy was hit and household incomes plunged, data from hundreds of emergency food aid charities reveals. read more here

This certainly reflects our experience. Anyone can find themselves needing help from a foodbank.

A Year in the Life of a food bank

Journalist Natalie Bloomer’s diary of a food bank over a year makes harrowing reading.

You can read it here

The documented experiences of food bank users are familiar to us.

Channel 4 Dispatches Growing up Poor

In Britain today more than 4 million children are growing up in poverty.

8 year old Courtney and her family live off £5 a day – they rely on a food bank to eat and wear coats to bed when there’s no money for heating.

Almost 1 in 3 children in the UK are now growing up poor, like Cameron and his two sisters whose family rely on a food bank to help fill the fridge.

“We try not to eat a lot in one day, even though most of us are really hungry.”

See the full documentary here

We are helping more people than ever!

More people than ever need help from Holme Valley Foodbank. We have been helping local people who are in crisis for a number of years and 2021 has certainly has been our busiest year ever. We are seeing more and more individuals and families who are struggling to make ends meet, and that struggle becomes worse during the school holidays.

Visiting a foodbank is often a last resort when there is nowhere else to turn. We are here to help, and we do care. No one should go hungry. Need our help? click here

As an independent local foodbank we are totally reliant on the support of individuals and local businesses – we do not receive any government money.

Please support Holme Valley Foodbank if you can. Click here to find out what we most need.