Urgent appeal as food bank stocks hit 15-year low

A food bank has warned it is facing one of the most severe shortages in its 15-year history and has issued an appeal for urgent donations.

The Coventry Food Bank, based in Binley, said empty shelves at its Halo Centre warehouse were in desperate need of replenishment, particularly non-perishable items.

A spokesperson said 11 tonnes of food left the warehouse in May, while only six tonnes of food were donated, leaving a five-tonne deficit, which was enough to support about 900 people.

Founder Canon Gavin Kibble, said the charity was facing "one of the most serious shortages" it had ever experienced.

He said "almost twice as much" food had left the warehouse since last year and it was not sustainable.

"We are down to our last 20 pallets, and we are missing a huge number of the individual items that make up a balanced food parcel," he said.

"If things carry on as they are, we will have no choice but to reduce the number of people we feed each month."

The charity, part of the Trussell Trust's network of 428 food banks in the UK, marked 15 years in operation earlier this year after being set up in May 2011.

More than 250,000 people have received meals from the bank since it first opened.

Kibble said if Coventry residents could spare one or two items from their weekly shop, it would make "a real difference".

"This city has always stepped up when its neighbours needed help, and we need that generosity now more than ever," he added.

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