‘Nobody should be going hungry’ in Holbeach, despite rise of homelessness and foodbank use

A community group believes ‘nobody should be going hungry’ in their town, despite seeing a rise of homelessness and foodbank use.

Holbeach Community Larder and Cafe has seen its number of users treble over the past two years.

However, the 30-strong team of volunteers are adamant that they will respond to the growing numbers of people in need.

“In the last two years our output, the number of people we are dealing with, has trebled,” explained Jane Francis, chair of trustees of the foodbank, which is a registered charity.

“We’re feeding between 60 and 80 people and families a week with food parcels, and on top of that we provide meals both in the community and at the Reading Rooms on a Friday, so you can add another 40 meals being provided every week.”

Howerver, despite these bleak statistics, Mrs Francis wanted to reiterate that help is at hand.

“We are extremely lucky we’re well supported by the community both financially and in terms of food,” she added.

“We’re very fortunate we’re in a good position and, I’d suggest that while we’re very busy, nobody should be going hungry in Holbeach because we’ve got the resources to help.”

As well as local support – including donations from supermarkets including Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and King’s Lynn’s M&S – the Community Larder and Cafe was handed £20,000 from South Holland District Council’s Household Fund, which saw families eligible for free school meals in Holbesach, Whaplode, Fleet and surrounding villages vouchers to buy food in supermarkets.

In addition, the group has been giving out £50 and £100 grants to people who are struggling to pay their gas and electric bills

But despite the good work being done to help, the fact remains that so many people in the district are struggling with the cost of living crisis.

This paper recently revealed that Spalding’s Agape foodbank had spent its 2022 budget on food within the first 10 weeks of the year.

“In the early days we didnt have homeless people in this area but we’re seeing more and more homeless people,” Mrs Francis added.

“We povide specialist parcels for people on the streets as they can’t cook, and the same for people without cooking facilities.

To help raise funds the Larder and Cafe will host a coronation celebration at the Reading Rooms on Monday (May 8).

There will be a Royal lunch, quiz, raffle and competition for the best King, Queen and Crown, for those wanting to take part in fancy dress.

The event begins at 11.30am and tickets cost £5.50, available from 07909 682 351.