A South Yorkshire council has taken action after food bank use in the area tripled in the last three years.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council pledged to provide over £100,000 annually up to 2027 to local foodbanks in their three-year crisis support plan on Monday.
The measures come after it was revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis had resulted in the demand for food parcels rising from 3571 in 2019/20 to 12,408 in 2022/23.
£60,000 will be used for interest-free crisis loans from £40 to £120, while £34,000 has been allocated to fund foodbank infrastructure and food transport.
Victoria Roberts, Rotherham Foodbank manager, said: “We are working closely with Voluntary Action Rotherham and the Council to ensure an holistic approach is available to people experiencing poverty.”
Part of this collaborative approach is the Food in Crisis Partnership, which will receive an additional £10,000 support per year to fund the organising of a network consisting of voluntary and community sector organisations.
A new four-tier model will now allow these groups to bid for funding to work alongside the council in delivering crisis support.
The proposed system is intended to flexibly fund local organisations to provide aid ranging from delivering food parcels to running ‘social supermarkets’.
A spokesperson for the Council said: “Having no access to food is often a symptom of broader issues that people may be facing.
“The crisis food model and supporting people to avoid repeat crisis requires an approach looking at the whole person or family and their needs, linking them into the bigger network of agencies that can provide help.”
It is hoped the creation of this community safety net will reverse the growing numbers of vulnerable families with children relying on foodbanks in Rotherham. In 2022/23, 4376 of those fed via crisis food parcels were under 18 years old, compared to 1696 in 2018/19.
