Foodbanks fear they could be pushed to brink without more help

A survey of North London foodbanks and charities reveals most are struggling to survive

The Felix Project's Enfield warehouse (credit The Felix Project) — The Felix Project’s Enfield warehouse (credit The Felix Project)

Four-in-five foodbanks and community groups supplied by a North London charity fear they will soon struggle to meet growing demand, according to a new survey.

The Felix Project, London’s largest food redistribution charity, surveyed the organisations it supports with free produce – with 83% of those responding admitting they worried how they would cope over the next twelve months and 57% even fearing they may be forced to close.

Those responding to the survey included foodbanks and pantries, community centres, homeless shelters, primary schools and faith organisations – all involved in supporting vulnerable people with essential groceries and household supplies.

The Felix Project is based at Great Cambridge Industrial Estate in Enfield and collects unsold food from supermarkets for redistribution to other charities. It is one of two major suppliers of free food for charities in North London, alongside Food Bank Aid in Finchley.

Chief executive Charlotte Hill OBE said: “We know the cost-of-living crisis is having a devastating effect on people’s lives and it is not going away, in fact it seems to just get worse.

“This survey was carried out before what was called ‘awful April’ when people saw hikes in their council tax, energy, water and broadband bills. This will have further squeezed people’s budgets, left them with even less to cover food and resulted in more anxiety about being able to afford to feed themselves and their families.

“The organisations we support are doing everything they can to help, but it is clear The Felix Project plays a vital role and I hope people and the food industry will help us continue to be there.”

One group that says it is struggling is Brickworks in Finsbury Park, which receives an average of 2,400kg of food from The Felix Project’s Enfield depot every month. With that they feed around 200 people. Foodbank coordinator Vanessa Freeman said: “We are expecting to see a huge rise in demand this year and are very worried about how we are going to meet it, especially because it so needed.

“At Brickworks we provide so much more than just food, but we often find is that it is the food that brings people in and means they can start accessing our other help, like health advice, back to work or mental health support or our education courses, but without the food as the first step, many people would not seek support, so its plays a vital role in being able to support the community.”

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