Kettering food bank sees 'frightening' increase in demand as cost of living crisis hits earlier than ever before

Demand for Kettering Food Bank’s services have hit an all-time high with more people than ever before turning to the charity for help as the cost of living crisis affects more people.

To fill shelves before the hoped-for boost from harvest parcels, Kettering Food Bank has had to buy in stock to tide them over, spending at least £10,000 since spring.

In the past, donations made during the autumn and Christmas periods have lasted until June or July but stocks of basic items have run out.

A year-on-year August has seen demand for food parcels go up by 65 per cent – with 6,744 meals given out in 31 days.

Trustee Jane Calcott said: “This year we’ve seen unprecedented demand. It’s going to get worse. Lots of new people are coming – households where both work but they need a car to get to work, people on the state pension, a lot of people have debts from last winter. People can have a one-off bill and they don’t have savings.

"What on earth are we going to do this winter? It’s very frightening. I honestly don’t know where it’s going to go. People are going hungry. They feed their children and the parent, usually the mum, will just have toast.”

The food bank uses cash donations to buy meal essentials and toiletries. Currently, only dried pasta and canned tuna stocks are sufficient – supplies of tins of soup and other every day essentials are sparse.

She added: “We are truly blessed that people give us donations.”

Contact the food bank on 07709 741353.