The Bow foodbank set up in Bethnal Green and Bromley-by-Bow is among 17 east London charities and not-for-profit voluntary organisations getting up to £3,000 each.
“These charities do remarkable work,” the airport’s Michael Spiers said. “They are building stronger and healthier communities.”
Bow Foodbank has had an ‘open door’ policy since it was set up in 2016 to help anyone in financial crisis.
Most of the food is donated by businesses and community organisations as well as individual wellwishers. The rest is bought wholesale.
It can put together a food bag with retail value of £25 for just £11. But the funds to do it have become scarce.
Hundreds of families became dependent on it during the pandemic, with 300 volunteers working to meet the demand.
The foodbank’s communications officer Jemima Hindmarch told the Advertiser at the time: “It can be hard to tell who’s struggling. People are coming to us who never thought of themselves as ‘the type to go to foodbanks’ but are in crisis after losing their jobs.”
Half the pensioners in the East End live below the poverty line, the charity found, while two-out-of-three schoolchildren were also in poverty.
The foodbank was set up at Bow Church in 2016 to help a handful of families till their next pay day. But the pandemic turned into a crisis with numbers needing help more than doubled from 400 a week to 870.
Two other East End charities are also getting City Airport grants.
One is the Eastside project helping the elderly with their housing and pension needs, especially the frail and those unable to get support with utility bills.
The other charity is Development Through Challenge that has operated Mile End Climbing Wall since 1988, helping make climbing available to everyone regardless of ability to pay, physical ability or skill.
Instructor sessions help those who would otherwise not be able to get into sports.
