Glasgow food bank denied funding as 'it gets quite a lot of food'

Crookston Community Group had applied to the Cardonald area partnership for the grant which would have allowed it to restock its storeroom at Ladymuir Crescent.

The food bank, which works with local housing authorities, the NHS and schools, is experiencing an increased number of people relying on its service through referrals from partner organisations as well as first-time self-referrals.

Organisations within the community have also been consulted regarding the growing need for food support as a result of the continuously rising cost of living, and the long-term effects of the pandemic. 

The funds would have allowed the community groups to collect enough stock to cover a two-month period.

But the money was not allocated as the Cardonald area partnership does not fund food banks – unless they are using the money allocated for something it feels is “sustainable”.

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Local councillor Alex Wilson said: “The Cardonald area partnership does not fund food banks and the reason being – a lot of food banks rely on donations, and they get quite a lot of food so we don’t fund it.

“If we were to fund say one community group – we would have hundreds of community groups coming in and asking for food and money for food.

“To be fair the Crookston Community Group receives thousands of donations and they have had money from the area partnership before.”

The organisation can speak to council officers to ask if there are any other organisations that it might be able to get funding from.

Councillor Wilson added: “Our area partnership is more likely to fund trips and equipment – that kind of thing. If they were to come and ask for something sustainable then we could fund that. 

“We previously funded them with shelving in their new facility. If they came to us and said they needed help with transport costs then we could do that – just not food.”