Give basics (and tin openers), food that doesn’t need cooking and add some snacks. Here’s what charities need to meet the demand for emergency food parcels
“Some people, in the run-up to Christmas, think ‘oh, there’s a fancy packet of biscuits, that would be nice’ but we need basic things,” says Kathleen Neilly, who runs West Lothian food bank. Currently, that includes tinned meat and tinned vegetables, as well as personal care items such as shampoo and shower gel. She has enough pasta to last around a year. Other food banks report ongoing shortages of long-life juice and milk. Check your local food bank’s latest shopping lists. Many are within the Trussell Trust network, or can be found through the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN), and many have their own social media accounts.
