4:00pm Sunday 5th October 2008
By Jane Reader
IT is hard to believe that families in Bournemouth are so strapped for cash that they are going hungry in the 21st century.
Most people believe that the days of under-nourished children or parents going without to feed the younger members of the family are firmly in the past.
But the credit crunch is having more far-reaching effects than many of us realise.
Not only are families having to do without luxuries, many are literally struggling to survive.
This week it has been revealed that increasing numbers of desperate families are turning to a church food bank for food as the credit crunch bites.
Up to 40 life-saving parcels are being donated every week as families in crisis suffer from redundancy, delays in benefits, mental health problems and family breakdown.
The Bournemouth Food Bank, run by Bournemouth Vineyard Church, has seen demand soar since it was set up in 2007.
Several schools in the area have helped boost supplies by allocating Harvest Festival donations to the service in recent days.
But co-ordinator Vicki Lent said donations are still urgently needed to keep it going.
"Most of us can go to our kitchen fridge and cupboards and find food to feed our families" she said. "But what if the cupboards are bare, the fridge is empty and the children are sent to bed hungry?
"What if this is not happening in a Third World country? What if this is happening to your neighbours, to a child at your child's school or to your co-worker?
"This is a reality for more families than we realise in our communities."
She said recent months have seen the highest demand for parcels in the history of the service and urged members of the public to donate food or money.
"The donations from the school harvest celebrations have been amazing and have made a real difference," added Vicki. "We were just getting to the stage where we thought we were going to run out of food and, unfortunately, the new donations won't last for ever."
Items needed include sugar, long life fruit juice and milk, breakfast cereal, tinned soup, vegetables, fish and rice pudding, instant mashed potato, biscuits, tea bags, pasta and treats for children.
People in need are identified by education and health professionals as well as community workers, who give vouchers to those without food. Vouchers are exchanged at one of three distribution points in the town.
Anyone who wishes to donate food can take it to the Food Bank Centre at 1087 Christchurch Road, Boscombe East, between 11am and 2pm on a Sunday.
The Food Bank can be contacted on 01202 424442.
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