News | Barking Foodbank

3 Jul 25

Guarantee Our Essentials: Barking Foodbank Joins Nationwide Campaign at Westminster

Campaigners gathered outside the UK Parliament holding Essentials Guarantee boards, calling for welfare reform to cover basic living costs.

On 18 June, Barking Foodbank joined over 700 campaigners, foodbank teams, and community advocates at Westminster to lobby MPs for an Essentials Guarantee—a policy that would ensure Universal Credit covers life’s basic costs. Gowry Paraneeharan, Senior Welfare Rights Adviser at Hope Family Trust/Barking Foodbank, attended the event and shared her reflections on why this campaign […]

19 Jun 25

Guarantee Our Essentials

Universal Credit is supposed to be a safety net for people in need — but right now, the current allowance doesn’t reflect the real costs of living. In Barking, like across the UK, 5 in 6 low-income households struggle to afford essentials such as food, bills, and travel. The cost of household bills and everyday […]

13 Jun 25

Support the ASDA Food Drive and Help Fight Hunger

Barking Foodbank employee and volunteer standing inside Asda during a food drive, collecting donations to support local people in need.

At Barking Foodbank, we rely on our local community to help people facing crisis. Your donations provide emergency food and vital support to those who need it most. That’s why we’re proud to partner with ASDA for a nationwide Food Drive from Friday 13 June to Saturday 15 June in all large ASDA stores — […]

28 Jun 20

Coronavirus update: 100 days of lockdown

When lockdown began on 23 March there was so much we didn’t know – but we knew we would be needed, possibly more than ever. The 100 days that have followed have been some of the most trying our foodbank has seen in its eight-year history. We have seen the number of people in need […]

9 Apr 20

Our response to the Covid-19 coronavirus

While the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus risks disrupting life for all of us across the borough, the city and the nation, we want to offer our reassurance that we are doing everything we can to make sure our food banks in Barking and Chadwell Heath continue to serve the community. Here are our latest updates […]

22 Mar 20

Coronavirus appeal – We need your help

This crisis is testing food banks across the country like never before. Empty supermarket shelves have taken their toll on donations. The loss of volunteers who we have asked to stay home for their safety has seen teams stretched. Increased need brought on by the disruption of the past few weeks has seen more people […]

11 Mar 19

ELBA Brings The City To Barking Foodbank

Elizabeth Breaks from ELBA (the East London Business Alliance) first contacted us in Spring this year to ask if we’d be interested in taking part in their Challenge ELBA programme. Challenge ELBA links up local voluntary organizations with companies wanting to hold volunteering events and projects for their staff and Elizabeth was hoping we could […]

16 Aug 16

Youth Empowerment Gym Programme

As part of the Food Bank’s goal to make an impact in the society, a state of the art (well almost J) gym facility is currently being set up in partnership with Box-Up Crime (an academy aimed at motivating and influencing people to transform their dream into reality). With its completion date slated for sometime […]

16 Aug 16

ELBA Brings The City To Barking Foodbank

Elizabeth Breaks from ELBA (the East London Business Alliance) first contacted us in Spring this year to ask if we’d be interested in taking part in their Challenge ELBA programme. Challenge ELBA links up local voluntary organizations with companies wanting to hold volunteering events and projects for their staff and Elizabeth was hoping we could […]

23 Dec 15

6 Unexpected Things Foodbanks Need

A visit to the food bank isn’t exactly a traditional Christmas activity, but one UK charity is asking for a little extra help this month, when demand is at its highest and families are choosing between eating and heating.

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