"Citizens Advice and Bishop's Stortford Food Bank working together to help local people in need"

Citizens Advice East Herts has joined forces with Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank to support local people in need. Last year the food bank helped 3450 local people experiencing food crisis in 2022 but wants to do more.

Bill Macdonald, Chairman says, “all through Covid and the cost of living crisis, we’ve been able to help people who’ve been in food poverty because of amazing support by the wonderful community in Bishop’s Stortford. However, we worry that unless we deal with the causes that bring a person into food poverty, any help we give them will only be short term. That’s why we’re really pleased to be able to be working with Citizens Advice East Herts to provide an Adviser specifically to help food bank clients. It’s much better to help the person get out of poverty than simply giving them food to help them cope.”

Citizens Advice East Herts helps anyone who lives and works in the area with free, confidential and impartial advice on a broad range of issues from housing to benefits to consumer rights. In the last 12 months, we’ve helped 5,149 people, with 14,253 issues with a financial value of £1,523,380.
The project with the Food Bank is jointly funded by the Food Bank and Citizens Advice East Herts thanks to the Brazier Trust in Bishop’s Stortford.
From Thursday 19 October, a trained adviser will see clients face to face in the Food Bank one day a week to help them tackle the root of their problems. This could be by helping them maximise income, through unclaimed benefits, debt and money management support as well as claiming rights to do with childcare, work, housing, relationships.

No one wants to use a Food Bank and this project is aimed at helping people get back on their feet and be able to move forward with greater resilience.
Chief Executive Officer at Citizens Advice East Herts, Maxine Bromyard says, “The cost of living crisis means it’s hard for a lot of local people to make ends meet. Our work is about helping people find a way out of their problems. We make sure people get what they’re entitled to, know their options and rights and are supported as they take steps to help themselves. We want to thank the Brazier Trust, who gave us a grant to fund this project, for their support.”
The project is running for a 6 month trial period, after which it will be assessed and if it’s shown to be of help to local people, we hope it can be extended and rolled out further.