THE STIGMA around foodbank usage needs to stop, says the manager of a Bradford-based food bank.
Dawn Stobart runs Wyke Foodbank where volunteers prepare food parcels to give to people that are struggling to afford to eat.
But she says that many people come through the doors embarrassed to be there or feel ashamed of the situation they’re in, and that needs to stop.
“I had one nurse who works full time but had been overtaxed, and the tax department agreed she’d been overtaxed but it would take a month for her to get her money back. She had no savings so she found herself in the foodbank through no fault of her own.”
“So many people say to me I’ve never been to a food bank and I never thought id have to go to a food bank, and we need to remove that embarrassment, shame and guilt that society puts on people.”
"The most important thing is that it could happen to anyone. We must make people realise that there is support, not charity, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Dawn said that over the past six months, she’s seen the demand for support at her foodbank increase by about a third.
“The demand is definitely going up, there’s no question about that. It’s for a multitude of reasons on the back of the cost of living, like relationship breakdowns and people that were already living on the breadline just can’t do it anymore.”
Volunteers at the Trussell Trust run the foodbank to prepare and deliver food parcels after receiving a referral from a third party such as children’s or mental health services, but the contents of their parcels rely entirely on donations.
“The generosity I’ve seen from the public is quite overwhelming. I had one guy who went around to all little businesses and collected over £2000 and did a huge food shop for us.
"People just keep turning up at the door, I just don’t know what we’d do without the general public.”
To drop off donations, the food bank is open on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 10am to 1.30pm at The Hub 68 Blackstone Avenue Wyke BD12 8SJ Bradford.
Or donations can be left in the baskets at B&M in Wyke or Tesco's Halifax Rd.
Going forwards, Wyke Foodbank hopes to open a community hub that will be in the style of a coffee shop to offer support and advice to people in need.
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