A food bank in Brent is asking its supporters to live off a food parcel for five days, as part of a sponsored initiative to raise money for future supplies.

Sufra NW hopes that this will raise awareness among the public of how tough it can be to make a small amount of food stretch a long way.

Foodbank users with infants can also receive nappies and baby milk. The centre provides a shopping list, which they hope gives recipients a stronger feeling of agency.

Nirmean Sawi, a full-time worker at Sufra NW, is taking on the challenge herself this week. She described the feeling as “very humbling.”

“I’m just one person doing the challenge, I can’t imagine if I had to feed five people with those ingredients””.

Ms Sawi hopes that her efforts will be worth it, as the goal of the challenge is to raise £5,000.

“This money will fully stock the stockroom for winter, a period where our demand really increases.”

The challenge follows the publishing of the The State Of Hunger report by the Trussell Trust, a leading food bank charity.

The report found that 94% of people using food banks are facing real destitution. A high proportion are also dealing with illnesses and mental health issues.

Barbara Williams, a volunteer at the London Jesus Centre, which provides food, shelter and advice to homeless people, says that she sees first hand the issues that the report outlines.

“Most of the service users do have some mental health issues which you’re not immediately aware of. Some days they are quite jolly and other days they are very withdrawn and seemingly depressed. It’s something that we watch – to see any deterioration.”

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HeadlineBrent food bank challenges supporters to live off food parcel for a week to raise awareness

Short HeadlineFood bank challenges supporters to live off weekly parcel

StandfirstThe Sufra NW foodbank hopes that this will raise awareness among the public of how tough it can be to make a small amount of food stretch a long way.

Sufra NW, a food bank based in Brent, is running a sponsored initiative to raise money for future supplies. They are challenging their supporters to live off a food parcel for a week. These food parcels are usually for people in crisis at the food bank. They hope that this will raise awareness among the public of how tough it can be to make a small amount of food stretch a long way.

The food parcel includes a range of tinned vegetables, tinned fish, protein such as chickpeas, baked beans, juice, rice, pasta, cooking oil, cereal, oats, jam, tea, toilet roll, and toiletries like soap and a toothbrush. If anyone coming to the food bank has a baby, they can also receive nappies and baby milk. The centre provides a shopping list, which they hope gives recipients a stronger feeling of agency.

Nirmean Sawi, a full-time worker at Sufra NW, is taking on the challenge herself this week. She described the feeling as “very humbling”, and said: “I’m just one person doing the challenge, I can’t imagine if I had to feed five people with those ingredients””. However, she hopes that her efforts will be worth it, as the goal of the challenge is to raise £5000. This money will “fully stock the stockroom for winter, a period where our demand really increases.”

The challenge follows a report published this week called ‘The State of Hunger’ by the Trussell Trust, who run the majority of food banks throughout the UK. The report shows that 94% of people using food banks are facing real destitution. A high proportion are also dealing with illnesses and mental health issues.

Barbara Williams is a volunteer at the London Jesus Centre, which provides food, shelter and advice to homeless people. She says that she sees first hand the issues that the report outlines.