Harvest is the busiest time for foodbank donations

Lincoln Community Larder have seen a large increase in donations as harvest celebrations come to an end. This comes as more people are being referred to the service.

The Lincoln Community Larder is a registered charity which aims to relieve poverty in the Lincoln area through the provision of basic nutritious food and other basic amenities to those in need of short-term help.

The Larder is managed and run entirely by local volunteers and relies entirely on the support of the local community.

As the cost-of-living crisis continues, food inflation stays at a high and energy bills soar, many people are beginning to feel the squeeze that has resulted in more people using services like foodbanks and community larders.

The Co Ordinator of the Lincoln branch, Dawn Nightingale says it's clear people are facing pressures that they haven't in the past:

"We're getting phone calls on a daily basis for people that are in crisis a lot more now, and especially the side of things where people are saying they can't afford to cook a lot of items. But we've got a big increase of people coming in, to all of our outreaches, and some weeks I'm spending over £1000 on extra food.

"We're just pleased that we are there, and we're pleased that we've had some great donations in order to be able to continue supporting those people in poverty."

The Lincoln Community Larder was one of the first foodbanks in the area, opening its doors on 18 August 1989. Which was the creation of Mrs Mary Eckmyre, who became aware of the need for a stock of basic food, available at short notice to give to people suffering some form of crisis in their life making them unable to fend for themselves.

Once up and running, the demand for Lincoln Community Larder’s services soon increased as word spread.

We spoke more to some of the people using the service. They wished to remain anonymous but told us why they use this service and what it means to them:

"Without being able to come here, I probably wouldn't be eating most weeks, that's how bad it's got. It's a life saver."

"If it wasn't for larder vouchers and places like this all-around Lincoln, people wouldn't be eating. I've been using it now for one and off, a year."

"It's a big help, especially with us not being able to get back into work at the moment."

A donator, Freddie decided after his school Harvest Festival, he would find out where the food goes, and so he brought a basket full of food, and we spoke to him about this:

"I feel sorry for the people that have no food and, well I brought of some cereal and some cans, like tomatoes and pasta, and coco pops. Some people might... while people do have a home, but people might not have a lot of money to buy lots of food."

The larder collates food from schools, churches, businesses and individuals. Large collections often take place as part of Harvest Festival celebrations and food is also collected at supermarkets.

The 30 volunteers in Lincoln, sort the food to check that it’s in date and pack it away in boxes, that are stored in the warehouse until it is needed on the shelves in the Larder outreach centres.

We were told that the local warehouse was nearly empty prior to this month, after the amount of new referrals.

Lincoln Community Larder partners with a wide range of front-line caring agencies such as Citizens Advice, YMCA, Framework, Probation Service, Families Working Together, Addaction, City Hall Benefits Advice and many others to identify people in crisis.

Once referred, clients go to one of the centres, where they receive three days' worth of emergency food.