Cumbria’s foodbanks facing ‘perfect storm' as The Cumberland steps in with £250,000 support

Published on21 June 2023

The Cumberland Building Society today announced it is taking the unprecedented step of pledging £250,000 to a charity that helps combat food poverty in Cumbria.

Its support follows warnings that charities in the county are facing a perfect storm of rising demand at the same time as experiencing pressures on the supply of surplus food to foodbanks and other projects.

Data supplied to The Cumberland shows that food poverty is one of the biggest concerns for Cumbrians caught in the cost of living crisis. Research also showed:

FareShare’s 36 members in Cumbria supplied 2.4 million meals to people over the last 12 months
80% of the projects have seen demand increase, in many cases significantly
93% are expected to see demand continue to rise through 2023
On average they have seen a rise of 48 users a week during last year

Further research by The Cumberland showed a similar picture across Cumbria including:

Increases of around 30 per cent for foodbanks serving major towns in Cumbria
A 75% increase in people using rural foodbanks
A small town’s foodbank in south Cumbria saw a tripling of deliveries due to long-term issues faced by local people

Now The Cumberland is determined to play its part in helping tackle food poverty by making its largest ever donation for its Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative. It aims to help dozens of FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria’s members invest in more food and expand their provision.

It has teamed up with FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria to focus on the issue and will also be encouraging its colleagues across the region to use their volunteer day to support the charity. It will be supporting members in Cumbria as well as two in Lancashire.

Cumberland chief executive Des Moore is proud the building society is supporting projects that make such a difference to people’s lives in Cumbria.

“We’re launching Kinder Kind of Kitchens as a community initiative in partnership with FareShare Lancashire & Cumbria.

“It’s an impactful development to improve the lives of people in dire need and provide fulfilling volunteering opportunities for our people.

“Far too many people worry about getting enough food to feed their families. They can’t move forward in life because they’re thinking about where their next meal is coming from. The use of community kitchens, meal clubs and foodbanks in Cumbria has risen dramatically in 12 months. Demand is outstripping supply and there is little sign of that changing.

“Kinder Kind of Kitchens will help tackle the issue head on by making a substantial donation to serve hot meals and provide food to people in food poverty.”

Claire Deekes, chief customer officer for The Cumberland, visited Waste into Wellbeing at Kendal’s People Cafe and said she felt humbled to see the work being done by volunteers.

“It is humbling and inspiring to spend some time to see the incredible work that people are doing here to support people facing food poverty.

“Our research showed a significant increase in foodbank and community kitchen usage. It was really evident that this is a growing problem.

“We wanted to do something in partnership with FareShare that will make a real difference in our communities. Listening to people today I can see how our funding will help alleviate some of the pressures food projects like this are facing.”

Alasdair Jackson is chief executive of Recycling Lives Social Enterprise, which runs FareShare Lancashire & Cumbria. He was in Kendal to highlight the spiralling food crisis in Cumbria.

He said: “Covid trebled demand for foodbanks, but that was not a peak - it was a practice for the
cost of living crisis and demand is higher than ever.

“Now we have a situation where people are visiting foodbanks who would never have considered it before. And at the same time, there is less surplus, so foodbanks are facing a perfect storm.

“Surplus food is harder to come by because the war in Ukraine has meant a lot of food is not
moving as it was and supermarkets are cutting back.”

Stacey Hurley, development manager at Waste into Wellbeing at Kendal’s People’s Cafe, said : “The impact of the Cumberland’s donation is tenfold. If we've got more trained volunteers, we can run more cafe sessions, which means we deliver more meals.

“So the volume of food will fundamentally go up, and the amount of activities we can run to deliver food will go up. It's crucial.”

Enjoying their lunch at the cafe today were mum-of-three Abbey Bisland, her sister Nicole and auntie June “It is the first time I have visited and I think it is a lovely project. It’s an affordable lunch - you just make a donation - and it stops food going to waste. I’ve used their food larder too and it’s a massive help to families in Kendal, said Abbey as her daughter Layla enjoyed their stew.