Winchester Basics Bank warn of increased demand for services

Winchester Basics Bank (WBB) warned of its rising number of users, saying it had helped more than 5,000 people already this year, a 50 per cent growth in demand compared to last year, at its most recent annual general meeting.

The food bank, which operates four food hubs across the city as well as a large storage facility in Winnall, held its meeting at the Vineyard Church on Wednesday, September 20.

Current chairman, Mike Whitehead, said that since WBB first opened in 2004, the number of people using the foodbank has increased as they struggle to make ends meet. This has only become worse due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Cost of Living crisis.

According to data discussed at the meeting, WBB served 2,930 people in 2019, increasing to 4,830 people in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Mike Whitehead speaking at the AGM (Image: Newsquest)READ MORE: Eco-shop launches clothes swap shop with pay it forward option to support foodbank

However, the organisation has seen a massive increase in the number of users in the first eight months of 2023, serving 5,239 people, an increase of 46.5 per cent since this time last year.

Mr Whitehead said: “Our numbers have been increasing quite dramatically.

“It is difficult to cope with that, but it is our hope to deal with these numbers. We had hoped it would go down this is not the case.”

He said that more people are coming to them for help, via referrals from other organisations and authorities across the city, and that people can now refer themselves to the food bank for help up to 12 times a year, which has increased from the original four times a year. 

He said there has also been a nationwide drop in the amount of food donated to food banks, leading to further strain on the services.

During the AGM, it was also revealed that, while the number of regular small financial donations from individuals has largely stayed the same, the amount of big, “one-off” donations has fallen since the pandemic.

While the food bank is not at any risk of shutting down, the meeting revealed that it has had to start buying more food for users to meet demand, spending approximately £1,000 a week on food from supermarkets to supplement donations.

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Later in the meeting, Mr Whitehead also spoke about the partnerships that WBB had made with the Vineyard Storehouse, which provides clothes to people in need, as well as the Carroll Centre in Stanmore and Unit 12 in Winnall.

Mike Whitehead announced that he is stepping down as chair of WBB. He will be succeeded by Leslie Little (Image: Newsquest)The meeting then had a presentation from guest speaker Abby Preston, a project officer from the Independent Food Aid Network, who spoke about cash-first solutions to the rise in the number of people using food banks.

The meeting ended with Mr Whitehead announcing that he is stepping down as chair of WBB. His replacement will be board of directors member Leslie Little.

She said: “I would like to say thank you to Mike, I feel very humbled to be given this opportunity.”

For more information on the foodbank, visit winchesterbasicsbank.co.uk/.