Northern Ireland

Belfast food bank inundated with pleas for help boosted by £10,000 donation

Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker with just one of the donations handed in to the food bank at Farset in West Belfast Picture By Hugh Russell.
Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker with just one of the donations handed in to the food bank at Farset in West Belfast Picture By Hugh Russell. Deputy Lord Mayor Paul McCusker with just one of the donations handed in to the food bank at Farset in West Belfast Picture By Hugh Russell.

A VITAL food bank supplying hundreds of hot meals across Belfast every week has been boosted by a £10,000 donation from an anonymous benefactor.

The Farset food bank in west Belfast hands out 200 food parcels every Friday and is getting requests for between 50 and 60 every day following a massive increase in demand since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The service is run by the city's deputy mayor Paul McCusker who said they are "so grateful for this generous donation" which was handed over out of the blue at the food bank.

"It means we know that we have meals for five or six weeks," he said.

"We're coming up to Christmas when there is always more need and the weather has been getting worse. We do outreach on the streets for homeless people. They also get a hot meal prepared in the kitchen, soup and a pie dinner, that kind of thing."

He said the level of people needing the service is higher than ever before.

"It is a lot worse in terms of numbers. People are presenting in crisis. They are on furlough and facing uncertainty, or have lost jobs, or people who are just not coping well.

"There are young people living in hostels who have only been eating Pot Noodles. They say to us `This is the first proper meal I've had in a few weeks.

"We are here to help people who need access to food and support."

The SDLP councillor said the work is only possible because of the support from such donors and the "amazing" work of volunteers.

"Our oldest is a man in his 90s who comes up every week with a food parcel. We also have young families who are here helping out every week."

Sinead McKinley looks out from Farset Food Bank Picture by Hugh Russell.
Sinead McKinley looks out from Farset Food Bank Picture by Hugh Russell. Sinead McKinley looks out from Farset Food Bank Picture by Hugh Russell.