How we're helping vulnerable people in Haringey

Angela Attrill from Bounds Green Food Bank on how the charity is helping local residents in poverty

I have volunteered at Bounds Green Food Bank since 2021.

It started during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a few neighbours helping other neighbours in need. It has since grown to cover the postcode areas of N11, N13 and N22.

We rent St Michael’s Church Hall and have 4,600 (adults and children) registered with us. We are an independent charity solely run by volunteers and, on average, we serve 380 households a week.

These are a mixture of people on universal credit, pensions, disability and working people, but all are on low incomes.

It’s a struggle for a people when the cost of essentials has risen by 20-25% since 2021, which includes rent, food and energy. We serve these households once a week and all are very grateful. Each receives two bags, most of which we buy plus donations. These typically include fruit and veg, bread, toilet paper, a household item and basic packet and tinned food.

There is a cost to us, with rent and storage coming to £6,300 a month, so we are continually fundraising as a charity. We often give out extra items donated which are often more than basic.

These donations come from local people, shops, businesses, churches, temples, mosques and schools, picked up by our volunteer drivers. We also get donations from national food charities such as City Harvest, Foodbank Aid and The Felix Project, who deliver direct to us.

We have a food source co-ordinator who helps with this. We have a driver co-ordinator to arrange the pick ups by our volunteer drivers. They also organise drivers to deliver bags to our 30 households who cannot come to the foodbank as they are disabled, ill or frail, and have nobody to collect them.

These drivers often go beyond that, staying to chat and engage with these clients, who are often isolated, and can alert us if extra help is needed.

We also run an advice centre to help with problems such as universal credit, pensions, housing and debt. If we can’t help we can direct them to the appropriate place or charity. For many, doing everything online is not easy.

We also help in the wider community providing items like a mattress, fridge or pushchair, when asked through our volunteers and networks.

I am on my own and since retirement and have found volunteering at Bounds Green Foodbank helps me connect with people, it feels good to give something back.

We are very much a community, and the people who use us feel this too. Coming each week is a social outing, a chance to chat and meet others. Some have become volunteers, then co-ordinators, then to other employment.

So please donate and keep this vital community hub open by giving money and continuing to support us.

For more information about Bounds Green Food Bank:
Visit boundsgreenfoodbank.org/about-us

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