‘It’s not just giving out food parcels’: the volunteers helping families

There were just under 1,400 Trussell Trust food banks in the UK in 2023, as well as 1,172 independent food banks, all largely run by volunteers from the community they serve.Last year in Thurrock, 95,955 metric tonnes of food parcels were given out by the Trussell Trust to feed 7,974 people, 3,599 of whom were children. The borough is diverse, with semi-rural areas as well as the urban, industrial areas around Tilbury docks.

Jenny Codling, originally from nearby Gray’s, has been going to the church for 35 years. Husband, Father Tim Codling, came in 1997 from Shoebury,. Before the Trussell Trust approached Father Tim about setting up a food bank in Tilbury, they had been helping people on an ad hoc basis. Jenny came to the church after collecting clothes, bedding and toys for Romanian orphans after the revolution in 1989.“I couldn’t believe how friendly Tilbury was,” Jenny says.

“Tilbury is a poor area,” she says. “It was much more supportive in the past but clubs where people met up have closed. No youth clubs any more. Working at the food bank I often meet ex-pupils who stay and chat. When the government cut down the civil service we had many people who suddenly became unable to pay bills and were very embarrassed to come to the food bank. When we first came here we could only afford a house because the local council offered us a 100% mortgage.

Antony Hurley, 85, worked for the Port of London authority throughout his career as a mechanic on harbour service launches, dredging boats and every other kind of vessel. In his spare time, he taught tai chi for 55 years. Antony and Geoffrey Moss, 51, make a team unloading new stock and packing it away.Geoffrey, who has volunteered for 12 years at St John the Baptist, is also a cross-bearer during the Sunday service.

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