IN THE past couple of weeks, I’ve gone along to help out at the Craven Vale Food Bank, the Bristol Estate Food Hub, the Whitehawk Foodbank and the new East Brighton Food Co-operative preparing daily hot meals out of Robert Lodge.

At each venue, I’ve been touched by the welcoming atmosphere and sheer hard work of the volunteers preparing food, cooking meals, packing everyday essentials and delivering it all to our vulnerable residents.

I even saw examples of people giving back some of the food they had received, being thoughtful of others and insisting that it went to those in greater need – which I think sums up the amazing community spirit that has grown in these difficult times.

I want to thank the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, who have been working with the council, residents and partner organisations to set up a network of food hubs and working with existing food banks to keep the city fed through the pandemic.

As a council we are also providing three meals a day to more than 230 rough sleepers and homeless people who we are accommodating in local hotels.

We are also helping more than 100 people in emergency accommodation with food parcels. We are working with Galvanise to collect donations of items that can help people with feelings of isolation and stave off boredom while staying indoors.

If you have a spare hand-held games console, DVD player or Kindle for example, please consider donating it as there is a desperate need for these kinds of items to mitigate the extreme isolation many of those who are self-isolating in emergency and temporary accommodation will be feeling over the next weeks and months. St Mungo’s will be distributing items. If you have an item to donate, then please email hello@galvanisebh.org and they will arrange a collection from you to the St Mungo’s team. Kindles in particular are really welcome.

I want to thank all of you who are doing your bit in your neighbourhoods and communities to help ensure nobody goes hungry during this public health crisis. Whether that’s checking in on an elderly or vulnerable neighbour and dropping off some groceries, helping out in a local mutual aid group, donating food; volunteering or supporting the crowdfunders so local food banks can purchase more supplies – the collective level of compassion and generosity on show reiterates my pride in calling this city my home.

That generosity is more crucial now than ever.

What has been striking to me is how much the demand for food banks has risen in recent weeks and months.

Food banks in the Independent Food Aid Network have reported a record level of need, with an average 59 per cent increase in need from February to March 2020. That is 17 times higher than this time last year.

Meanwhile, The Trussell Trust reported its network’s busiest ever period in the last two weeks of March 2020, with 81 per cent more emergency food parcels being given out across the UK, including 122 per cent more parcels going to children, compared to the same period in 2019.

We’re seeing this locally too. The Whitehawk Foodbank has seen demand quadruple over the last month, for example. It now supports more than 120 residents each week with emergency food boxes and is expecting to see demand continue to escalate.

The recently opened Whitehawk Food Kitchen is already serving up to 100 meals per day, and the Bevendean Food Bank has had to treble the number of food parcels it delivers since the start of the pandemic.

The Covid-19 outbreak is hitting a lot of people financially, and a further reason for such a spike in the demand for food banks is likely the impact of coronavirus on precarious work. Whilst some people have been furloughed from their jobs, many have lost them altogether. As we consider what we want our city and our country to look like after lockdown, we need to see an end to zero-hours contracts and greater job security for people.

People who have rent and bills to pay and families to support cannot go on not knowing whether they’ve got any shifts at work or income coming in from one week to the next. We need greater union recognition and stronger regulations to protect workers’ rights in the gig economy.

Thank you again to everyone supporting the efforts to keep our city fed. You can donate to the Food Partnership to help purchase essential food, packaging and toiletries for vulnerable and isolated people at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hungry-at-home-2020.