Coventry Foodbank fundraising trek as donations dwindle
The founder of Coventry Foodbank said it has seen a sharp decline in donations from the public.
Last updated 6th May 2024
Coventry Foodbank's founder says it is struggling to get enough donations as it holds a 34km trek around the city's 15 foodbanks.
The annual Great Coventry Foodbankathon raises money for the Coventry Foodbank, as well as raising awareness of the role foodbanks play in supporting people in Coventry.
Coventry Foodbank founder Canon Gavin Kibble MBE said: "The most fundamental issue we face is not the number of people we're feeding - that's fairly static at around 23,00 - but it's actually a huge drop-off in the level of donations from the public and I think that's a direct impact of the economic crisis we're going through at the moment.
"We've had to purchase over half the food we've given out over the last four months - that is so unusual."
The Foodbankathon, starts at St Stephen’s Church in Canley and ends at St Catherine’s Church in Stoke Aldermoor, and is expected to take around nine hours to complete. Members of the public have been invited to join the trek along the way.
Gavin said: "We've been doing this for 13 years and it's become part of the social welfare infrastructure of this city, to the nearly 250,000 people who've benefitted from it over that period of time.
"There's well over 300 volunteers invested across the city in supporting foodbanks and there's nothing like Coventry Foodbankathon that celebrates the time, energy of work they invest."