Blackburn television presenter AJ Odudu has visited a food bank in her home town, and has spoken about how the experience has affected her.
The Strictly Come Dancing 2021 finalist said the visit to Blackburn Food Bank in Oakenhurst Road was “eye-opening”, saying it is awful people need to rely on places like this for their essentials.
The former St Bede’s High School pupil helped pack emergency food parcels, met with volunteers and learnt about the wide range of support the food bank provides to the local community.
Speaking about her visit, AJ said: “My visit to Blackburn Food Bank was really eye-opening and made me realise the amount of work that is going on in the community to help people get through the cost of living emergency.
“It was great to learn about the range of support that food banks provide, from parcels packed full of extra items like toiletries to helping people understand their finances - it’s so much more than just food.
“While it was good to see everything the food bank is doing to help the people of Blackburn, it’s awful that people can’t afford the essentials and I fully support the Trussell Trust’s aim to end the need for food banks.”
Blackburn Food Bank is one of the busiest locations in the Trussell Trust’s network of more than 1,300 food bank centres.
Between April and September of this year, Blackburn Food Bank provided more than 10,500 food parcels to people experiencing hardship in the local area, a 64 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Speaking about AJ’s visit, Gill Fourie, who is manager of the Blackburn Food Bank, said: “We loved having AJ help out at the food bank and show such an interest in our work.
“We are supporting more people than ever before as the soaring cost of living means people can no longer afford the essentials.
“The food bank is also having to bear the burden of rising energy prices and increased rent this year but we are determined to keep providing everyone with the help they need.”
AJ's visit gave her the opportunity to learn about the Trussell Trust's emergency appeal which has been launched to ensure food banks, like Blackburn, can keep going this winter.
The cost of living emergency has led to a sharp rise in need and food banks are expecting to distribute approximately 7,000 food parcels each day over the coming months.
You can learn more about the emergency appeal by visiting the Trussell Trust website.
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