Hucknall food bank sees demand soars by 50 per cent

The charity, based at the Under One Roof community centre, on Vine Terrace, is set to deliver vital supplies to over 150 homes this month - but is hampered by restrictions on bulk buying.

Project manager Yvonne Campbell says measures to curb panic-buying prevent her team from buying large quantities to fill the food parcels, and is calling on supermarkets to help.

"I am not asking for them to give it to me for free but to be able to buy their own brands, so that the money we have will go further," she said.

"If we could preorder and collect it in-store that would be even better. This would mean we were not taking food off the shelves and people would not think we were stockpiling.

"I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall."

"We are also sending out meals to those who have requested them," she told the Dispatch.

"Normally they would have to get a referral from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). But at the moment, if they say they need help, we help them, and hope they are not doing it for unscrupulous reasons.

"We can't take the chance of missing someone out who is desperately in need of food."

Yvonne says people with children are contacting her on Facebook and asking for help, while “new people are being referred to us every day."

The supermarkets have donated perishable items, but the food bank team have had to hand them over to soup kitchens, as they need non-perishable goods for the monthly food parcels.

"I sent an email to Mark Spencer, our MP, asking for the government to help food banks buy food in bulk like I used to do,” Yvonne said.

Yvonne, 71, took over as project manager just four weeks before the coronavirus epidemic struck in the UK, after volunteering once a month through Watnall Road Baptist Church.

At the beginning of the crisis she said the food bank had large stores of pasta, baked beans and soup - but these are now "more or less depleted."

"We're on the look-out for more," she said.

This month 18 volunteers will deliver 150 food parcels to 150 addresses, while staff at Under One Roof are cooking meals.

Yvonne, 71, has type 2 diabetes, but she is able to coordinate operations from home.

"I am so passionate about it," she said. "My daughter says all I think about is the foodbank!"

She moved from Shipton 18 months ago and says of Hucknall: "I love it here. The people are so friendly and they have made me feel really welcome."

She paid tribute to the people who continue to donate food and money, as well as the volunteers behind the food bank.

"The coordination between volunteers in order to make this happen, without coming closer than two metres from one another is impressive to say the least, and a testament to the resolve of humans pulling together in times of need."