Sheffield food bank ‘turning people away’ as donations drop

A food bank in Sheffield has said volunteers are being forced to turn service users away and pay for supplies out of their own pockets due to a drop in donations.

Gleadless Valley Food Bank distributes free food parcels and sells discounted food to locals, but said depleting stock had led to it shutting its doors at Gaunt Shopping Centre on Tuesdays and only opening on Fridays.

Rebecca Scott-Evans, deputy manager of the service, said she believed the cost of living crisis meant members of the public could not afford to donate as much as they previously had.

She said: “The simple answer is that we need donations of food. People offer cash, which is absolutely amazing, but we need food.”

She added residents in the area “really rely” on the service, including single parents and families, but that their elderly users were struggling the most.

“It’s a really sad situation, I do feel a lot of them are going without food because they are so ashamed to come and ask for help.”

Customer support volunteer Bernie said she had found one service user waiting outside the food bank on one Tuesday because they did not know the hours had been reduced.

She explained food parcels were being rationed, meaning recipients were given a “cooling off” period before they could take another.

“It’s heartbreaking, it feels like I’m saying ‘you’re not worthy of it’ – it’s awful,” she said.

“You can see the sadness in their eyes, like they’re going to go home and ask how they’re going to feed their children or eat for the next week.”

She said she was one of the volunteers who had donated food herself, but it “hurt” to see the organisation struggling.

The food bank was previously based at Gleadless Valley Methodist Church, Ms Scott-Evans said, where it was supported by Trussell – formerly known as the Trussell Trust.

The Christian food poverty charity coordinates the UK’s largest network of food banks and food distribution centres, and aims to connect those who need help with relevant services.

However, the food bank had to relocate when trustees of the church announced it would close due to low congregation numbers – it officially shut its doors in June, 2024.

Following the move the Trussell and Gleadless Valley Food Bank ended their relationship.

John “Jock” Stevenson, manager of the service, said this had added a barrier to collecting donations, because most supermarkets refuse to work with independent food banks which are not supported by the charity.

A Trussell spokesperson said: “Gleadless Valley Foodbank left the Trussell network in April 2024.”

“This decision was made by the food bank’s board of trustees at the time, and Trussell supported the food bank’s board with their decision,” they said.

“Our partnerships are not exclusive, and many supermarkets also run their own initiatives to support local food banks, including partnerships with independent food banks and other charitable food providers.”

The charity previously said the number of emergency food parcels it helped to distribute in Yorkshire and the Humber had risen by 95% over the past five years.

Across the UK it said the number of people over the age of 65 accessing its services had risen by 236%, although they only accounted for 3% of the total food parcels claimed.