How you can help tackle Manchester’s food poverty crisis

The socio-economic impacts of coronavirus have put even more pressure on food banks. 1/5 people in the UK live below the poverty line, meaning many people rely on food banks to feed themselves and their families. With Christmas just round the corner, now is a crucial time to donate to your local food bank.

Here at some food banks that are close to the universities or student areas. Check out their websites for any news or updates on what they require. 

Fallowfield and Withington

Hulme

University of Manchester

Donate to a food bank: 

Donating to a food bank is simple and can be low cost. If you live in a student house or flat, you could all chip in and donate a few items each. In doing this you’d be able to split the cost between a few people and provide a well rounded donation.

If you’re planning on going home for Christmas you can donate any non-perishable items which would otherwise be left in your cupboard.

You can find out what to donate by looking at what a typical food parcel looks like.

Check on the websites for what that specific food bank needs, as they often end up with large quantities of certain items and not enough of others. You can include donations of non-food items such as toiletries (shower gel, shampoo etc), period products (pads and tampons), households items (washing up liquid, laundry detergent etc), baby supplies (nappies, baby food), face masks and hand sanitiser.

There are also a variety of food drop off points at various local supermarkets. It really is as simple as picking up a few extra bits whilst you do your weekly shop and placing them into the food donation box once you’ve paid.

You can find these donation points at:

• Asda, 100 Princess Rd, Hulme, Manchester M15 5AS
• Tesco, Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester, M32 0QW
• Co-Op, 135-141 Withington Rd, Whalley Range, Manchester M16 8EE

You can also donate to Lidl’s food donation box at their supermarkets, which is part of their ‘Feed it Back’ scheme. You can find these donation boxes next to the checkouts.

If you don’t want to donate food, you can always provide monetary donations. You can do this via donating to the charity ‘Bridging the Gap’ via this link.

If you’re planning on having a clear out before Christmas, you could sell your old clothes on Depop or Ebay and donate the profit to this charity.

Volunteer at a food bank. 

Although the pandemic means that food banks aren’t accepting new volunteers currently this will hopefully change in 2021! Watch this space.