Food bank sees donation surge after stock stolen

The head of a south London food bank has said he has been "heartened by the surge of generosity" from people after it had several thousand pounds worth of stock stolen.

Southwark Foodbank, which is operated by Pecan on Peckham High Street, was targeted by thieves on Sunday morning.

Pecan's chief executive Peter Edwards said about £3,000 of food and hygiene products were taken, as well as a laptop.

Kevin Hern donated £300 after watching the food bank's plight on BBC London's TV bulletin on Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was called to the building on Monday morning following a report of a burglary. No arrests have been made.

Mr Edwards told BBC London: "It's had a devastating impact and it hits the most vulnerable people in our community.

"We're all emotionally invested in the services we provide; we're only here to help other people so it's a hammer blow when something like this happens."

He said the team was "working very hard" to make sure none of their clients went without food parcels this week.

"We've got enough in house now to keep serving people in need, but it's important that we continue to fundraise on an urgent scale."

Mr Edwards also said the theft added costs such as "staff time, and all the things that you're not doing because you're dealing with the result of a crime on your premises".

The team, he said, was now "busting a gut" to think of ways to fundraise to replenish the lost stock.

"We need to rebuild our warehouse... to get back to 100%."

Mr Hern contacted BBC London to be put in touch with the food bank operators to make the £300 donation - which amounts to nearly half the cost needed to repair damage caused during the break-in.

He said: "When I saw this last night on the news, it touched me. These people who are already in desperate need of service are facing a further setback after the food bank was robbed.

"If [the burglars] had turned up needing the food, they probably would have given it to them anyway."

Head of food services at the food bank, Shahid Mughal said: "The first thing they saw was that the shutter had been lifted and the glass had been broken.

"The team on Monday felt quite deflated because there's a lot of hard work that goes into collecting the food."

He added: "The community here is tremendous, they give us large amounts of food on a weekly basis and to have lost all of that is problematic."

Mr Mughal said the theft would also have a "substantial impact" on the community because the food bank helps about 4,000 people a year, giving out parcels to about 100 households a week.

Responding to the donations, including Mr Hern's, Mr Edwards said: "The kindness exhibited by new and existing supporters of Pecan will help us rebuild vital food stocks for winter."

It follows four other break-ins at two London food banks over the past 14 months including at Lewisham Foodbank in south-east London, where a large quantity of cash that would have been spent on food was stolen in July last year.

And in Redditch, Worcestershire, food and baby bank Inspire Support Services was targeted last month by burglars for the third time in less than a year.

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