Demand rises for Kent's coastal foodbanks

Canterbury Food Bank say they distributed enough emergency parcels to make more than 117,000 meals in 2024.  Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00An early morning and another busy day here in Whitstable as Canterbury Foodbank prepares for

00:05another day of relentless demand. The charity delivered more than 13,000 meals in December alone

00:14but a new year hasn't stopped that demand from continuing to rise.

00:20This year we're giving out more parcels month on month than we gave out last year

00:27and that is shocking because we would like to see an end to this. We would like to see

00:32food banks as just a temporary necessity in society and could go back to a situation

00:40where people could support themselves off their incomes but that doesn't seem to be happening.

00:46When we've been here before shelves like this one here at the Canterbury Foodbank

00:51would normally be packed with cans of the essentials food that people need to get

00:57through their daily lives but that's not the case anymore because while donations may be steady

01:04demand has only increased over the last year. People can't afford I think to donate so much

01:13and whereas we used to pack some biscuits in every bag they don't get biscuits anymore there's

01:18more selective of what people get because there's just not so many people can afford to donate as

01:26well as demand going up. It's not just Canterbury Foodbank feeling the strain. Down the road in

01:32Herne Bay empty pockets and cold weather is forcing more people than ever to seek help

01:40from Myers Community Foodbank. It's been a lifeline because Basman's disabled and

01:47we need the heating on and it's like that saying that goes heat or eat we can heat and eat if I

01:54come here. The queue is literally growing every day January like it was the day when we didn't

02:00have enough food it's scary you're looking at the queue you're looking in the food available

02:05and it's scary and that question will I have enough will I have enough I literally have

02:09palpitations sometimes because I think will I have enough. 2024 was a tough year for many

02:15but with more cold weather incoming and energy bills being so high 2025 doesn't look

02:24like it'll be any easier. Oliver Leeds for KMTV in Herne Bay.