Demand for food parcels from Horsham charity doubles as donations drop

Horsham Matters is launching a new ‘It Could Be You’ campaign to increase the levels of understanding of the poverty levels amongst residents across the district.

The charity runs the Horsham District Foodbank and provides food, fuel, and essential services to those experiencing hardship.

Over the past year, the charity has seen demand for their services increase as those on tight budgets are struggling to make ends meet.

meet. In a latest survey, half of foodbank users said their need was a direct result of the cost-of-living crisis. As the cost of energy, food and other essentials keeps increasing, many residents are being pushed into making tough choices.

Horsham District Foodbank , part of the Trussell Trust network, has provided almost 5,000 individual food parcels since the beginning of 2022, with 2,006 of these given to children. As soaring living costs continue to put pressure on residents, the food bank wants to ensure that people in crisis get the support they need over the winter period, and beyond. The food bank provided over 900 individual parcels in August, nearly double the amount compared to the same month in 2021.

Amalia Lovett, network and campaigns Lead for Horsham Matters, said: “As the cost of living crisis continues to affect our community, Horsham Matters is doing all it can to help meet the extra financial pressures that families are facing.

"But for many of our residents, the coming months will be a particularly tough period as they struggle to cover the basic costs of living such as bills, food, and other essentials.”

“We aim to provide a holistic approach providing household budget support, debt and benefit advice, but the cost of living has pushed many people already living on tight budgets into destitution.”

“As an organisation, we are working with other Trussell Trust foodbanks to push for further investment into our social security. However, we need our community to support us through this tough time. We are being pushed to our absolute capacity to meet demand from those in need, at a time when demand has increased by 50 per cent, but donations have decreased as everyone is feeling the pinch.

“We are asking our supporters to organise a collection for us, at a time when demand for our services is so high, we need both money and food. We are also asking the public to send a message to their MP to urge them to increase the support to low-income households with further payments through the social security system and uprate social security benefits in line with inflation.”

A domestic abuse survivor and working mother told the charity: “I am really worried about the impending increases over the winter months, as there is no money left in the pot to be able to pay more.”

Horsham Matters, in partnership with Collyer’s College students and Horsham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (HAODS), will be releasing several films in October to coincide with World Poverty Day. They are also working with their partners to designate Sunday October 16 as Horsham Poverty Day.

To send a message via an online form or to see what help the charity offers, visit www.horsham-matters.org.uk/cost-of-living-crisis