A recent video from charity London Community Kitchen (LCK) shows Brent residents queuing up around the corner and down the road to access a food bank on Ealing Road.
Volunteers at the food bank described the line as the “biggest” they’ve seen with the sight making a “spectacle” highlighting levels of food poverty in Brent.
LCK has been meeting food needs across Brent and Harrow through individual projects based in churches, community centres and temples.
“The food is not totalling the need of the people in Brent,” LCK’s community engagement lead, Suzy Jakeman, told MyLondon.
She added: “That level of the queue where you’ve got the whole of Ealing Road come to a standstill every Saturday, it’s becomes a spectacle. People are stopping their cars in the middle of the road and saying what is going on here.
“What’s happening is a community is getting together to support a community.”
LCK are open each Saturday from 11:00am providing food for anyone who in need, however, Ms Jakeman said people are queuing from as early as 8:00am with their children in “rain” and “sub-zero” temperatures. Ms Jakeman said LCK support 600 people at their Saturday project in Brent, which totals to roughly 2,000 people.
Ms Jakeman said this is a London wide issue that’s been exposed by the pandemic and has been going on since before coronavirus. LCK has been supporting people living in food security for seven years.
“You find people queuing up in our Harrow project who have been working as civil servants, professionals where they’ve finally come to the stage where they’ve got over the shame.
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“It’s either that or us and our family are not eating. This needs to be addressed.”
Sky News presenter Kay Burley was also volunteering at the community kitchen last week during her suspension from the network.
LCK has launched a campaign to raise funds to continue their work supporting thousands of people across London boroughs in north west London and beyond.
Ms Jakeman said: “It’s a tough situation in London, it always will be but this pandemic has brought the poorest communities to their knees and I do not see this getting any better for years to come.”
If you’ve been forced to turn to food banks in the pandemic, we’d love to hear from you. Email your story to [email protected].
