Just across the carpark from the Hollywood Bowl and the giant slushies at the Vue Cinema, there’s a warehouse stacked to the ceiling with pasta and tinned tomatoes, cereal packets and loo roll.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside. But this is one of the most important buildings in North London. It’s the central hub — the mother food bank — for a network that supports 20,000 people, including 5,000 children, through 33 local food banks. Another 23 food banks are still on the waiting list.
When we arrived, the warehouse buzzed with purpose. Volunteers moved through shelves and crates, sorting and packing. The whole place smelled strongly of tea – they’d just finished re-packing a bulk shipment into many smaller bags. My kids grabbed the food we’d bought from the supermarket and ran around finding the right spots: pasta with pasta, custard with custard, tuna with tuna.
Everything was very systematic. It’s a finely tuned distribution system, getting essentials to families through frontline food banks across the region. Every gap on the shelf means someone goes without.
This summer, those gaps are expected to widen.
When school ends, so do free school meals and breakfast clubs — often the only guaranteed meals a child receives. Families who already stretch their income to cover rent and bills must now find a way to cover two extra meals a day, per child. At the same time, holiday childcare costs have surged by 6% since 2023.
This is not a small problem – 31% of children across the UK — and 17% in London — live in poverty. And while the Government has announced plans to extend free school meals, those changes won’t come into effect until September 2026.
Here’s how you can help right now:
All of this explains why we’re asking Koru Kids families to support Food Bank Aid’s School’s Out, Food’s Out campaign.
There are three ways you can help:
- Donate to Food Aid: donation bundles of £10.59, £26, or £52 will fund real food parcels packed and distributed during the school holidays.
- Find your local food bank to volunteer/donate
- Suggest that your school does a Food Drive, if you don’t already do one. School-based food drives are a fantastic way of raising donations and getting kids involved. Alyson would love to hear from PTAs/parents interested in making this happen – you can contact her at Alyson-Walsh@foodbankaid.org.uk
The summer holidays should be a time of fun, not hunger. Let’s make it so!
