By Pythias Makonese
A plea for more volunteer helpers has been made by a food bank in Leicester which has seen the demand for its services nearly triple in a year.
Fully stocked: the Food Hub in Beaumont LeysThe Food Hub based at the E2 Training Centre in Beaumont Leys is trying to recruit more volunteers to help out every Thursday and Friday.
It runs every Friday between 11 am and 2 pm for people in need of its support but help is still required on Thursdays to organise and prepare food for distribution.
Originally it was aimed at helping around 16 people a week but numbers continue to rise and have increased to around 44 people as word of mouth grew and the implementation of Universal Credit has been rolled out.
Martin Buchanan, the Chief Executive Officer, explained: “Whatever Government is in power I expect food hubs to be here to stay for some time.
“Even if the Government’s priorities were to change overnight, I still think it would take years for positive changes to work its way through the system.”
The food bank has been running for almost a year and Mr Buchanan said E2 is having to increase the amount of food needed to help residents in the Beaumont Leys area.
E2 relies on the support of large food suppliers such as Fareshare East Midlands, Tesco, Lidl and the Co-op to help with the current demand.
It distributes half a ton of food every week and organisers don’t believe this is likely to decrease any time soon.
Those who would like to know more about volunteering are urged to email Mr Buchanan on me2@e2online.co.uk or phone 0116 235 9481.
