Food banks currently being supported by donations from kind-hearted Central England Co-op Members and customers have revealed the impact the Coronavirus has been having on them and the people they support.

The South Derbyshire CVS has been among the organisations to receive Co-op backing during lockdown.

Their Swadlincote Food Bank is still operating for people in financial difficulties, but they say collection of food parcels is by appointment only. You should telephone 07458 305314 or at [email protected].

South Derbyshire CVS has been supporting the local community for almost 25 years, and say the current crisis highlights that they are needed now more than ever.

They have launched the Stronger South Derbyshire Regular Giving Fund and are asking all friends, partners and local communities to help either directly by signing up to become a member and/or by helping to get the message out.

A regular monthly donation together with Gift Aid where appropriate, means they can ensure that local people in crisis across South Derbyshire get the help they need, when they need it.

Not all of their services receive ongoing grant funding sufficient to cover the cost of running them – including their Food Bank.

Last year they gave out well over 1,000 food parcels and it is likely to be much higher this year due to the economic impact of COVID-19.

To help them plan ahead they are appealing for people to become Stronger South Derbyshire Regular Giving Fund members, which means signing up to make a regular monthly donation.

Their initial aim is to reach 500 members, helping to provide the means to support even more people in the months and years to come.

Members will receive a special impact bulletin at least twice a year, detailing the work being carried out with their ongoing support.

Stronger South Derbyshire say monthly donations of any amount are welcome – £5 will provide an emergency food parcel for a child for one day, £20 will feed a family for three days and £50 will feed a family for a week.

Signing up can be done by: 1. Setting up a regular donation via standing order or through PayPal; 2. Confirming membership by filling out a short form.

Full details of how to do this are available on the donate page of the Stronger South Derbyshire website.

Due to the social distancing measures introduced by the Government, South Derbyshire CVS premises are currently closed to the public and visitors, and staff are working from home.

All of their group activities and most community based face to face services have stopped for now.

Over 65 food bank partners are currently sharing out over 75,000 items donated by people heading into Co-op food stores as part of an urgent appeal launched after the nationwide lockdown was put in place and organisations saw a major spike in demand alongside a fall in donations.

But food banks from across the country share their experiences of what it has been like during lockdown ranging from one handing out an extra 8,000 meals in just one month to another seeing demand spike from 120 people a week to over 700.

Leicestershire-based Soar Valley Community Food Project has seen a 50 per cent increase in requests for food since the start of the pandemic.

Tim Jackson, from the project, said: "The donations have been amazing from all parts of the community which has meant we are coping with the increase.

"The donations in Central England Co-op stores have risen significantly, probably between three and four times what they were in January."

In Lichfield, the city food bank fed nearly five times as many people last month as it did in April 2019. There were nearly eight times as many children.

The April 2020 figures for clients fed were also 130 per cent up on the last 'normal' month which was February.

Jane Hare, Secretary at Lichfield Food Bank, said: "Our most urgently needed items are currently tinned meat, tinned custard and tinned rice pudding."

People looking to make a difference can make a donation to their local food bank by visiting their nearest Central England Co-op food store and dropping an item or two into special collection points.

Donations will be collected up from Central England Co-op stores and used to create food parcels, which contain around 11 items and will provide at least three days' worth of meals for those in need.

Items needed for the food bank appeal include cereal, tinned food and fruit, tea bags, dried pasta, rice, long life milk, sugar, biscuits, fruit juice and squash, pasta sauce and instant coffee.

People can keep up to date with how Central England Co-op is responding to the Coronavirus by visiting Co-op Updates