Havering charity, Kingdom Storehouse, a local food bank provider has received a grant from the City of London Corporation’s charity, the City Bridge Trust, to meet increasing demand from the local community.

The charity runs an emergency food bank in the Harold Hill area, where half of the child population lives in poverty, according to The Index of Multiple Deprivation Score. In addition to offering nutritious meals to residents struggling financially, Kingdom Storehouse offers practical advice for people living with debt. Residents can also benefit from a weekly ‘Job Club’ and a service that can signpost people to apprenticeship opportunities, helping them to develop key employability skills.

The grant will ensure the food bank remains open five days a week. Last year, 2,588 people used the Kingdom Storehouse food bank.

Mark Reeves, project manager at Kingdom Storehouse said: "It was great to receive our grant from City Bridge Trust. It will enable us to continue to provide a much needed service in our area during these uncertain times of welfare changes, and to be able to explore other initiatives that we can provide to our community".

Jeremy Mayhew, Chairman of City Bridge Trust, said: “Over the last few years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people using food banks We are supporting Kingdom Storehouse because it doesn’t just tackle food poverty, it also offers other assistance, including help with money-management, employability skills and legal issues. All of this should reduce long-term dependency on food banks.”

In the past 20 years, The City of London Corporation’s charity, City Bridge Trust, has awarded grants totalling £1/3 billion to charitable organisations tackling disadvantage in Greater London.

For more information visit http://haroldhill.foodbank.org.uk/