Foodbank demand is a ‘concern’, says manager
Kevin Craigens
More than 1,000 food parcels were handed out to islanders in the last year — which has caused concern for the Shetland Foodbank manager David Grieve.
In new figures published today (Wednesday), it was revealed almost 1,600 people had received help from the isles foodbank. Of that, nearly 300 were children.
Mr Grieve said he was “very concerned” about the figures, although there was a steady increase on the previous year — in 2023/24 1,088 parcels were delivered. This was up to 1,098 in the 12 months to March this year.
“Hunger is not a food problem – it is an income problem,” Mr Grieve said.
That was a slogan for a campaign poster used by The Trussell Trust.
Foodbanks in other parts of the country were struggling to keep up with demand, Mr Grieve said. He used Glasgow and the west of Scotland as an example.
A rising number of people are looking for help from foodbanks and some of those foodbanks don’t have sufficient stocks of food to meet the needs of their local community.
The demand was easier to satisfy in Shetland, however, because of the “very generous” donations made by islanders who could afford to give.
But there is still an issue when around 18 per cent of the population are in need of essentials, Mr Grieve said.
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