Shoppers asked to donate to Foodbank to feed East End families in crisis

Shoppers are being asked to give non-perishable foods to feed families in London’s East End living in poverty crisis.

Volunteers are outside Waitrose branches at St Katharine’s Dock and Canary Wharf at the weekend asking customers to donate produce to their Foodbank appeal.

The East End has the highest levels of child poverty in the UK—well over half live in poverty, the Trussell Trust Christian charity points out. Many go to school without breakfast.

So supermarket collections are being staged Saturday and Sunday by volunteers from its Tower Hamlets Foodbank project.

“The current economic climate means more families struggle to put food on the table,” said Foodbank manager Denise Bentley.

“It’s no longer just those on benefits finding it hard to make ends meet. There is also the ‘masked poverty’ from increased redundancy and fewer jobs—all having a real impact on people’s lives.”

The volunteers are being joined by employees from JP Morgan on Saturday, between 9am and 4pm and on Sunday 12-6pm outside both supermarkets.

The Foodbank project helps families by providing emergency food and guiding them get help to combat the long-term problem. It needs food donations for what the charity sees as “this now-essential service” in the second most-deprived area in London.