The Meon Valley Food Bank has joined the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN).
IFAN connects, supports and advocates on behalf of a range of over 300 frontline food aid providers and envisions a society without the need for food banks. The network’s membership includes 259 organisations operating 346 independent food banks regularly distributing emergency food parcels at least once a week.
A recent report has shown that since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, independent food banks have seen a large increase in need for emergency food parcels. Overall there has been a 175% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed by independent food banks across the UK comparing April 2019 to April 2020.
When examining a recent report that includes data from the Trussell Trust, we can see that the Meon Valley Food Bank is among the leaders in moving to receiving food vouchers by email and undertaking home deliveries. Another interesting finding is that more and more food banks are moving away from their 3 day parcel of food model to offer more support. Since our start in 2015 we have always delivered a full seven days’ worth of food for each family member both adults and children.
Our membership of IFAN will enable us to keep abreast of the latest news about food poverty in the UK and help us to ensure that we continue to provide the very best level of support to our clients within the Meon Valley.