Latest News "Unfortunately, we're in a situation now where, demand has gone up significantly while donations have decreased" Con McHugh is a parishioner of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He is working on a video project as part of the Jubilee Year exploring each of the Jubilee themes. The themes are Care for Creation, Food Poverty, Modern Slavery, Managing Debt, Forgiveness, Rest and Worship. The fifth video of the series - Food Poverty - features Hugh McNeil, a Project Manager for Coventry Foodbank and Feed the Hungry UK. Food Poverty is not new and is mentioned the Gospel of Matthew: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” It has been mentioned by previous Popes: Pope Benedict emphasises In Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), that charitable acts, particularly towards the vulnerable, are as crucial to the Church as the sacraments and the preaching of the Gospel.Pope Francis met members of the European Food Banks Federation in 2019 saying that ‘Food banks fight both hunger and waste’. I recently met Hugh McNeil, a Project Manager for Coventry Foodbank and Feed the Hungry UK, at their Distribution Centre in Coventry: "I've been very privileged to be the project manager for Coventry Foodbank for the last 12 years, and in that time, we've seen demand for our services grow and grow.Unfortunately, we're in a situation now where, demand has gone up significantly while donations have decreased. And as a consequence, we struggle, to make sure that we're supplying people with the food that they need at this time. Coventry Foodbank is an organisation that works across Coventry with 15 foodbank centres. "So just to give you an idea of of where we're at at Coventry Foodbank last year we supported 21,000 people with food across the city. Of that, 7,500 were children under the age of 16. That 21,000 was a 12% increase on the numbers that we had for the previous year.But the interesting thing is that our donations dropped last year by 40%. To put that in perspective, the previous year in 2023, we bought 2.8 tonnes of food. Last year we had to buy 28 tonnes of food. "Coventry Foodbank is part of a larger charity called Feed the Hungry, which is an International Charity. This charity, provides food for children in Africa. We're one of six global offices of Feed the Hungry. We have USA, Australia, Germany and other locations right across the world.And together we feed 500,000 children per day in Africa. The idea is that we try to make sure that the children in Africa get enough food to get them through their lessons. "We support people through crisis into stability, into sustainability and into significance, because we believe that everybody is significant and everybody should have the right to shine."And for our Catholic brothers and sisters, we acknowledge and we are so grateful for their support. One of our foodbank centres is based in Our Lady of the Assumption in Tile Hill, and we're really, really grateful to the support that we receive from the Catholic Church within Coventry and from the diocese beyond."On behalf of Coventry Foodbank, we want to thank you for your ongoing support for the foodbank and the work of Feed the Hungry internationally." Photo Gallery: Inside Coventry Foodbank Distribution Centre Coventry Foodbank Feed the Hungry Jubilee Year 2025 Jubilee Year themed videos Manage Cookie Preferences