Our Covid-Crisis Foodbank Story
[and how St Anne’s relationship with our neighbourhood has dramatically changed over the past year]
Between April 2020 and June 2021 we dramatically altered the way we seek to serve the people living in the Hoxton Street Neighbourhood.
When it became clear that we were no longer able to welcome people to our Soup Kitchen and twice weekly Drop-in Cafe Sessions we made a plan to provide basic food provisions for those we knew would benefit from some help in the midst of the Covid-Crisis. We couldn’t have imagined what happened next!
We knew a number of people in our neighbourhood who were struggling to make ends meet and we wanted to get some basic provisions to them. The problem was, like much of our parish, St Anne’s has very limited funds.
We were introduced to ‘Love Your Neighbour’ a scheme run by Church Revitalisation Trust. They were able to source all the food we needed … we had no idea just how much that would be when we started!
The first week we distributed 23 bags to people we already had contact with the our neighbourhood. The bags contained essential items such as pasta, tins, toilet rolls along with chocolates and biscuits.
Very quickly we became aware of more people who were struggling for a wide range of reasons and the number of bags went up and up. Working in collaboration with a local GP surgery and a number of local organisations we were able to support many who we didn’t previously know.
2 or 3 of us would distribute the bags each week … but as word got around we were joined by many more who wanted to help.
As the number of volunteers grew, so did the number of guests and the number of food bags.
One of our priorities was to ensure that everyone who came to our foodbank got a warm welcome, was asked how they were and listened to. It wasn’t long before new friendships were formed and a new community emerged.
We served tea and biscuits all morning as people arrived and before long we realised that many people came for the sense of community as much as the food.
By the time we got to Christmas we were distributing 4,749 meals worth of food to 350 people living in 114-130 households. None of which could have been achieved without 22 outstanding volunteers.
It also wasn’t long before others saw what was going on and wanted to help. Most notably was the support we received from Hoxton Brothers Food store just down the road. Each week they provided us with fresh fruit to add to the dried goods.
Here’s the stats over the year:
192,334 meals
433 households
1,217 individuals
It was clear that among the guests who attended the foodbank there were a wide range of need.
For many receiving this food was a way of ensuring their children and families were well fed.
For others, the food enabled them to use some of their limited funds to buy much needed items such a school uniforms or to pay for utilities at home.
So what happens now?
Through the development of our food bank we were able to meet an acute need at a time of crisis. We are delighted to have been able to work with Hackney Foodbank to ensure that those in crisis will be able to continue to access the practical support of a Foodbank.
Here at St Anne’s hospitality and offering supportive relationships has always been at the centre of our community life for the past 151 years. We are delighted to have received some funding to transition our emergency provision into a community development project that addresses food-poverty, social isolation and loneliness.