Chichester Foodbank sees almost 40% rise in holiday food parcels needed in 2023

The recently released 2023 figures for the Chichester District Foodbank has revealed that there has been a ‘significant’ increase in holiday food parcels needed for their Holiday Kids Lunch Pack scheme.

Laura Mcleod-Turner, the Campaign manager for the foodbank said: “We have seen a particular uplift in the number of families on low incomes we support with our Holiday Kids Lunch Pack scheme.

"Our Holiday Lunch Packs for kids support families who usually rely on free school meals during term time by providing school holiday food parcels. In 2023 we distributed 2883 holiday food parcels over the three major holidays. This is a 39% increase compared to 2022. During the Christmas holidays, we received the highest number of child lunch food parcel requests that we've ever had. That was a big one for us."

Laura also mentioned details of plans for 2024, which included a peer support group for families. The campaign manager said: “We've also started to do peer support groups as well, which started in this year. We have a group every Tuesday called Stand Stronger Together which we’re going to continue building on in 2024. It’s brilliant because one of the things that we know from our clients is that people feel incredibly isolated and ashamed about struggling when it comes to needing a food bank.

"For them to know that people are not alone, and they're not the only person in that situation can be really empowering. So that's been great.”