Lewisham Foodbank robbed of cash donations

A manager of a food bank in south-east London says there has been a "heart warming" response from the local community after its office was robbed.

A large quantity of cash, which would have been spent on food, was stolen from the warehouse of Lewisham Foodbank earlier this week.

Sarah Vitty said the theft was a "big blow", as her colleagues were already struggling to meet demand.

But, she said lots of extra donations have been made in recent days.

Ms Vitty told the BBC staff and a volunteer arrived at the food bank's warehouse in Forest Hill on the morning of Tuesday 18 July to discover the property had been broken into, causing damage to the front door.

They then discovered the cash donations, which were waiting to be banked, had been stolen, as well as a phone.

"Everyone was feeling really shocked and sad that that would happen, just really disappointing. It was quite a tough day on Tuesday, we were quite short staffed anyway."

Ms Vitty said staff and volunteers had already been feeling "overstretched" due to an increase in demand.

"We're finding it very challenging to meet the current need," she said.

The food bank, which provides 600-700 people in the borough with food and essential items each week, is used by 65% more people than this time last year, according to Ms Vitty.

She said, luckily, support from local people, businesses and restaurants has enabled the project to make up for some of the stolen cash.

"Extra people have come and donated, extra people have come in and volunteered, we've had people randomly turn up with donations and shopping orders, so that's really heart warming and encouraging".

However, Ms Vitty said she was concerned about the number of local people experiencing financial hardship.

"Demand has increased so much, our centres are extremely busy, sometimes we run out of food, we're not able to provide as much as we used to and it can be demoralising.

We're worried for the coming winter because the numbers are higher than they have ever been".

The Met said enquiries into the break-in were continuing.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]