Hundreds of local people will be receiving parcels of food, thanks to a grant of £3,000 to the Worcester Foodbank from Worcestershire Freemasons 

The grant has been used to purchase stocks of items for over 200 cooking parcels, to help individuals and families in crisis make better use of food stocks with items such as herbs, spices, condiments and cooking oil.

The money comes as staff at the Worcester Foodbank say they are braced for a spike in demand as redundancies rise.

Grahame Lucas, manager at Worcester Foodbank, said: “We are really grateful to Worcestershire Freemasons for their generous grant. It comes at a critical time when we’re anticipating further rises in demand as the impact of redundancies causes people to turn to us for help.

“We’re also fearing a downturn in the general public’s ability to continue their generosity as the economy struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Worcester Foodbank has supported over 54,000 people since opening in 2012, including 10,000 people this year. They have provided more than 670,000 meals overall.

Worcester Foodbank is one of six Trussell Trust foodbanks operating across the county.

Pressures have been mounting on the charity since the rollout of Universal Credit, and demand for the Foodbank’s services has grown by over 80 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant from Worcestershire Freemasons comes through the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF), which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends.

Robert Vaughan head of Worcestershire Freemasons said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to help Worcestershire Foodbank, who are doing hugely important work providing food parcels for individuals and families living in poverty. It’s clear the pandemic has made the situation much worse and that the foodbank will continue to have a crucial role for many months to come.”