Charlene Butler is Volunteer Co-ordinator of Redbridge Foodbank. The foodbank, which is part of the Trussell Trust Network, provides emergency food and compassionate, dignified support to people locked in crisis, and relies heavily on the support of volunteers and donors. Charlene here tells us about the need for donations and volunteer support.

What does your charity do?
As a nation, we know it isn’t right that anyone should be left hungry or living in extreme poverty. But, whilst we work for long-term change, Redbridge Foodbank provides emergency food and compassionate, dignified support to people locked in crisis. The services provided by food banks may vary from area-to-area as they react to the needs of their community, to provide help and support to local people in crisis. Redbridge Foodbank is in four locations within the borough – Ilford, Goodmayes, Grange Hill and South Woodford – and is part of the Trussell Trust Network.

Food donations: Non-perishable, in-date food is donated by the public at a range of places, such as schools, churches and businesses, as well as supermarket collection points. It is then sorted into emergency food parcels by our team of more than 190 volunteers, to be given to people in crisis. From April 2021 to March 2022, we distributed over 11,500 3-day emergency food boxes in Redbridge. This equates to 134 tonnes of food.

Food vouchers: Care professionals such as health visitors, staff at schools and social workers identify people in crisis and issue them with a food bank voucher. This means people can receive a foodbank parcel of three days’ nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food from their local food bank.

What are the challenges your service users face, and how does your organisation help users overcome them?
Our foodbank network helps people break free from poverty by providing additional support to help people resolve the crises they’re facing so that they don’t need to use a foodbank again in the future. This could include things like debt advice, mental health support, or benefits guidance. Foodbanks rely on the support of their local communities to support people in crisis.

Our partnership with ELBA has seen a continuous stream of volunteers from the corporate world who come in on an ad-hoc basis to volunteer with Redbridge Foodbank. The corporate volunteers are an enormous help especially in some of our busiest times, such as Harvest, Christmas and large supermarket donation drive events when we need all hands on deck.

Do you have an inspirational story/moment about your work that you would like to share?
Aneita’s Story. Aneita was working in education when a problem with her tax credits meant she was forced to use a foodbank.

“I was suddenly plunged into a financial nightmare, not knowing how I was going to pay my bills, feed myself and my daughter, buy things we needed…I remember sitting in the waiting room, with my daughter, waiting to be given a food parcel. I was holding back my tears – not wanting my daughter to see me upset – and thinking “how has it got to this?”

We need to get rid of foodbanks. We need change – a real living wage, benefits that reflect the cost of living, more social housing. Poverty does not discriminate – it can and will single you out through no fault of your own. We need to bring people together to think about whether this is the life we want – and how we can change it. It’s the community that can influence change.”

What kind of support are you in need of right now and how might volunteering fit into that?
Due to the Cost of Living crisis, we are facing a decrease in donations while the need for food is increasing. People can donate food to the local supermarkets or give a monetary donation to our Bankuet page at bankuet.co.uk/redbridge, which allows us to buy food at cost. We are always looking for volunteers to join our 190 strong team at Redbridge Foodbank. We run six three-hour sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.