On Saturday 1st April, Stratford upon Avon Foodbank Trustee, Maggie Hedger walked a marathon along the Stratford to Birmingham Canal to raise funds for the Trussell Trust through their Race Against Hunger virtual walk.
Walking through suburbs of Birmingham and Solihull through to the lovely remote stretches around Wootton Wawen, two pairs of trail shoes and seven pairs of socks, lots of online support messages and Maggie arrived at the Canal Basin in Stratford at around 6.30 pm on Saturday evening. Maggie says that in all her walking career she has never walked in such muddy conditions for so long, with 85% of the towpath being slippery mud or deep puddles, but all worthwhile to raise funds for a charity that is now supporting more people than ever.
In March Stratford upon Avon Foodbank fed 549 people which represented a 72% increase on March 2022. Nationally, the picture is that between 1 April 2022 and 30 September 2022, foodbanks in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network distributed 1.3 million food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 52% compared to the same period in 2019. Half a million of these parcels were distributed to children. This isn’t right. Everyone should be able to afford the essentials and put food on the table.
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of more than 1,300 food bank centres, providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, as well as working to challenge the structural issues that force people to use food banks. No one should have to suffer the indignity of relying on emergency food and the Trussell Trust knows that together, we can build a future where everyone can afford the essentials.
Donations to support the Trussell Trust can be made via https://trusselltrust.enthuse.com/pf/hannah-hedger