29th September 2017

Cathedral focus for Harvest is helping local foodbank

Thousands of hungry people will benefit this Harvest Festival time as cathedrals up and down the country – including Blackburn Cathedral - are tackling food poverty by donating their gifts to foodbanks and other similar projects.

The news comes after the Church Urban Fund released its latest research to show one in 50 of adults surveyed had used a food bank in the last 12 months.

Up and down the country, cathedrals (as well as countless parish churches) are asking their congregations to donate fresh and non-perishable goods this harvest which they will pass on to their local foodbanks, crisis or homeless centres.

Canon Sacrist at Blackburn Cathedral, Canon Andrew Hindley, said today: “Blackburn Cathedral is keeping a traditional harvest festival this year with its gifted flower arrangers doing spectacular displays.

“However, given that the Cathedral is situated in one of the most deprived areas in the country our underlying objective is to encourage people to donate much needed food to Blackburn Foodbank.”

Blackburn Foodbank provides three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. They are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.

Elsewhere in the North West, Manchester Cathedral is collecting for the Booth Centre which offers activities, advice and support for the homeless by signposting to accommodation, education, training and help to secure employment, free healthy meals, tackle health and addiction, and offer creative activities to boost confidence and self-esteem.

Meanwhile Liverpool Cathedral supports the Hope Plus Foundation which helps people living in poverty in the city centre.

Blackburn, Liverpool and Manchester join many other Cathedrals nationwide – as well as countless parish churches in Lancashire and across the country – in supporting foodbanks and other related projects.

The Church Urban Fund has just released its latest report on food poverty which surveyed 2.048 adults. 

One in 50 of those surveyed said that they had used a food bank during 2016. This equates to nearly 1 million adults (0.95 million) across Britain. 

Even more people (1 out of 20 adults) said they had missed meals in the past 12 months because they could not afford food.