Plea for donations to raise £6,000 to support 'lifeline' food bank in Wakefield

Donations are desperately needed to support a lifeline food bank that hands out more than 100 meal parcels to those in need every week.
Lisa Grant at St Catherine's Food BankLisa Grant at St Catherine's Food Bank
Lisa Grant at St Catherine's Food Bank

St Catherine’s Church Centre in Wakefield has launched an appeal to raise £6,000 to help its vital food service.

The centre needs the cash to cover the running costs of its three minibuses, which are out on the road each day collecting donations for its food bank and sharing out emergency food provision across the Wakefield district.

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The vehicles are also used to transport isolated members of the community to the centre’s elderly day care service, which gives older people the chance to enjoy a meal and take part in social activities.

But since the appeal launched last month, only £10 has been donated.

Centre manager Lisa Grant said: “There are so many more people who need to access our food bank. There’s people in real need of support. The service that we provide is a real lifeline to them.

“In terms of elderly clients, a lot of them are isolated people who would not go out of the house if we weren’t going to collect them.”

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The centre distributes more than 100 food parcels each week, providing over 50 free lunches and 40 evening meals.

It also runs holiday hunger sessions, supporting families whose children would normally be able to access free school meals and struggle to find the extra money for this food during the holiday periods.

Ms Grant said: “We are going out and collecting more and more donated food because the demand for our food bank has gone through the roof.

“It is up 40 per cent on last year and we are having to go further afield to get food.”

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