South Street Cafe says some people were making several visits in a day
The foodbank at the South Street Cafe. Picture: Facebook
May 19, 2023
A foodbank in Isleworth has announced on Facebook that it is to close after people were misusing the service.
The South Street Café has been running the facility since last October when it was officially opened by local MP Ruth Cadbury.
The community coffee shop and ice cream parlour says that some individuals were coming to the foodbank and taking as much as they could carry then returning later that same day to repeat the process.
It said on social media, “We will continue to run the Charity Shop and instead of providing food for those in need from Tesco, for people to help themselves to, we will be giving out vouchers to be used at the Isleworth Greengrocers.
“It's become apparent lately that several people are making multiple visits to the food bank over the course of the day and simply helping themselves to as much as they can carry and then returning for more.
“It's beyond upsetting but I'm not asking my staff to try and intervene and stop people from exploiting the hard work and generosity of so many of our friends in this community.
“So the only answer seems to be to stop providing free food on a basis of trust, with no questions asked, and to switch to a system whereby people will need to engage with us and that can't be abused.
“It also makes much more sense to give money to a small and much valued local business as opposed to a large supermarket chain.”
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