Lowestoft food bank says usage dropping as support work improves

The Eastpoint Vineyard, a new church in Lowestoft, provides volunteers to manage the Fish events and activities for the children.

“It’s really hard to put into words the difference that doing this makes for families,” said senior pastor Jonathan Coe.

“Families that rely on free school meals during school time… if you’ve got one or two or three or four or five kids at home during the summer and suddenly you’ve got no assistance with food… to give them a good meal, it makes such a difference.”

A government spokesperson said Labour was “determined to turn the tide on poverty after years of rising hardship”.

“Our recent statistics show that effort is beginning to make a difference – household incomes have risen 5% in real terms, food bank usage has fallen, and food insecurity is down.

“Our £1bn Crisis and Resilience Fund can be used by councils to run schemes such as benefit support checks, so everyone knows what they’re entitled to, and our guidance confirms they can use vouchers to support free school meal families during the holidays.”

Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.