When Angela Doggett opens the doors to the community center, she’s used to seeing a handful of familiar faces ready to collect groceries to help them through the week. But recently their few regular visitors have become a long line as an anti-hunger group reports an “unprecedented demand” for help.
“I would say in the last two months the queue has grown from around four or five people to 25-30 people,” says the manager of the Bechange project in Aylesham in Kent.
“It’s people with young families, it’s older people, and it’s people who are working … I see new people that I didn’t see the week before,” she says.
“We bring people from further away, from outside the village. We get people to take stuff for family members and their neighbors because they’re worried about them too.”
And Angela is not alone – charities and community groups that help those at risk of hunger are seeing an increasing demand for her services.
The findings are part of a major new survey by FareShare, which is distributing surplus food to thousands of organizations across the UK.
Of the 1,200 participating groups, 90% said their work was being impacted by the cost of living crisis.
FareShare says it doesn’t have enough food to meet the growing need.
It is now launching a campaign to get more donations from across the food industry and try to keep up with demand.
“A year to eighteen months ago we were shipping 1,500 trays of groceries a week, now it’s 3,000,” says Emma White, shift manager at FareShare’s distribution center in Kent.
“I think that number could double again in the coming months.”
FareShare has 30 regional warehouses across the UK. Teams of volunteers in hi-vis vests pick and pack large quantities of unsold or unwanted food from supermarkets and food processors. Smaller amounts of surplus groceries are also collected directly from retailers and food-to-go sales outlets.
Much of this is fresh, nutritious produce that would otherwise go to waste.
- “They don’t know what it’s like at the poverty line”
- Why is the cost of living rising?
- People are facing the biggest drop in living standards since 1956
FareShare, also a charity, believes it helps feed more than a million people in the UK every week.
“It could be a homeless shelter, it could be a school breakfast club or it could be a food bank. We serve all areas of the UK in different communities,” says Emma, who also volunteers.
More than 75% of organizations that responded to FareShare’s survey said they saw an increase in demand. Among the reasons people access their services, 65% said it was due to rising grocery costs, while 52% said rising energy bills were also a factor.
Back at the Bechange project, volunteers collect food once a week and place it neatly on tables in the community hall for anyone who comes by.
Every Friday, Alison Trevellion, 55, joins the line of people waiting for the doors to open.
“I’ll make a soup with those lovely veggies that will keep for a few days. I also get fresh fruit. You shouldn’t have to be upset or embarrassed about coming here.” She says. “This is for everyone.”
Alison has been coming to Bechange for a few months and says it’s been a great help as money is very tight now.
“Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones. I work part time, I get Universal Credit, but it’s still a concern considering how much gas and electricity are going up, and I just don’t think that government lives in the real world. I would love it if they got my wages and I got theirs for a month. Because they would never come here,” she says.
Alison says she’s coping with it but can’t stop thinking about what lies ahead.
“I go to bed at night, start thinking about things. And I start rubbing my hair. And I have a big stain there because I’m so worried.”
The workers and volunteers at this small center are also feeling the growing fear.
Angela says: “It’s really shocking because it’s all kinds of people. There is no real ending. We know things are going to get worse, they know things are going to get worse.”
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