Kirkcaldy Foodbank: £20,000 appeal to avert threat of closure

The independently-run foodbank is facing rising monthly food bills, and needs the funds to continue to work in the local community.

And its chairman has warned that unless the money is raised, it could mean of the road for the lifeline service.

Ian Campbell said the appeal was a warning.

“The reason we are doing this is if we’re not going to be around in 12 to 18 months,we want to try to give everyone due notice that after eight years we might not be here”.

In July, increase in demand coupled with a decrease in donations meant the foodbank had to cut the size and frequency of packages available – a move it said was necessary to keep it up and running.

Statistics released by the foodbank last month showed that it has witnessed a 26% increase in the number of visits versus last year, and 35% of those receiving help are thought to be children.

Mr Campbell said there is genuine need for those using the service.

He said: “We have lots of referring agencies coming to us, whether it be social work or Citizens Advice and Rights Fife.

“And we’ve always had an open door so that people can come to the foodbank because they don’t want to engage with either health or education or whoever the statutory agency is.

“We keep a record of who comes in, with agreement from the client, so we can see quite clearly that the foodbank is not being abused. People aren’t coming in and using it just for their shopping”.

Mr. Campbell said those who once helped the organisation are now finding themselves in a position where they are having to use the service.

He said: “Supermarket donations are clearly going down, and people who would normally support the foodbank are finding themselves having to use us, and that’s dire”.

“We buy a huge amount of food ourselves because the donations we receive don’t cover demand. We have inflation going up, we have food prices going up, and we have a lack of donations, plus a lack of monetary donations.

“It’s that storm that all agencies are feeling at the same time”.

It is not only members of the public who are being pushed towards the foodbank, Mr. Campbell said that a lack of resources mean it is becoming a “last resort” for Kirkcaldy’s many agencies.

He added: “We have statutory services coming alongside clients and we try to support them, but we can’t take on that huge demand either”.

Mr. Campbell says the appeal was a warning that the service could disappear without more money.

He said: “The reason we are doing this is because if we’re not going to be around in 12 to 18 months, we want to give everyone due notice that, after eight years, we might not be there”.

“We want to remain around until there’s a huge change in how people are being looked after and we only want to remain around until there’s a sufficient safety net put in place by whoever that looks after the most vulnerable in the community”.

To donate, visait the Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/linda-judge3