There were just under 1,400 Trussell Trust food banks in the UK in 2023, as well as 1,172 independent food banks, all largely run by volunteers from the community they serve. Last year in Thurrock, 95 tonnes of food parcels were given out by the Trussell Trust to feed 7,974 people, 3,599 of whom were children. The borough is diverse, with semi-rural areas as well as the urban, industrial areas around Tilbury docks. At the Trussell Trust warehouse in Stanford-Le-Hope, where the 1381 peasants’ revolt started, there are two full-time staff. The manager, Peter Newall, worked at Ford for 37 years, starting as an apprentice tool maker and finishing as a purchasing programme manager working on the Ford Transit. Ceri Norton oversees the charity’s warehouse and logistics. Everyone else in the warehouse and in the 10 food banks in Thurrock are volunteers, largely from church congregations. All food donated goes through the warehouse as well as the number of vouchers issued by different agencies. Food is weighed, packed into parcels then distributed by van among the 10 food banks. From the 1 January to 31 March 2024, 2,116 people received food parcels, 942 of them children. Of the 10 food banks in Thurrock, St John the Baptist church at Tilbury Docks is one of the busiest. The church is very central to the community – many of those long gone from the area return to be married or buried at the church. A victim of 9/11 who had long lived in America was remembered by a service in the church and some of his ashes were buried in Tilbury. Jenny Codling, originally from nearby Gray’s, has been going to the church for 35 years. Husband, Father Tim Codling, came in 1997 from Shoebury, Essex. Before the Trussell Trust approached Father Tim about setting up a food bank in Tilbury, they had been helping people on an ad hoc basis. Jenny came to the church after collecting clothes, bedding and toys for Romanian orphans after the revolution in 1989. “I couldn’t believe how friendly Tilbury was,” Jenny says. “The people here were really welcoming. There’s a massive community spirit here. Once the food bank started, it opened a door to other things as well as people struggling with the cost of living crisis. They have helped refugees, victims of domestic violence in emergency accommodation including children, people needing basics things such as bedding and curtains … Once it opened it developed organically. The congregation are very generous – you only have to ask at a service for something needed and someone will find it. Nobody judges you down here.” Chris Henderson, 76, has worked as a volunteer at St John the Baptist since 2014. She moved from Wiltshire to Tilbury in 1969 to teach in the local primary school, where she worked for 44 years. “Tilbury is a poor area,” she says. “It was much more supportive in the past but clubs where people met up have closed. No youth clubs any more. Working at the food bank I often meet ex-pupils who stay and chat. When the government cut down the civil service we had many people who suddenly became unable to pay bills and were very embarrassed to come to the food bank. When we first came here we could only afford a house because the local council offered us a 100% mortgage. My first wage in 1969 was £48 a month.” Eddie Brannan, 56, has been on disability living allowance since a car crashed into him years ago. He visited the St John the Baptist church food bank before Christmas after his boiler broke and he had to heat his poorly insulated flat with an old fan heater, using up the little money he had to spend on food. Janet Hurn, 76, was born, baptised and would have married in St John the Baptist church if the roof wasn’t being repaired at the time. Now she volunteers each week at the church’s food bank. Before Janet retired, she worked in social services. At the start of her career she worked in management for Thurrock local government in social welfare, dealing mainly with older people. Later, she took a second diploma, this time in social work, and had two years of training funded by the council when she choose to work with 11 to 16-year-olds. When she started in social services it was all run by the council with dedicated staff but after the Thatcher government’s Community Care Act was passed in 1990 the work was tendered out to private companies. Near the end of her career, she ran a specialist mental health team, mainly working with older people with dementia, psychosis and other problems in South Ockendon, Thurrock. By the time she left, it had been disbanded. Antony Hurley, 85, worked for the Port of London authority throughout his career as a mechanic on harbour service launches, dredging boats and every other kind of vessel. In his spare time, he taught tai chi for 55 years. Antony and Geoffrey Moss, 51, make a team unloading new stock and packing it away. Geoffrey, who has volunteered for 12 years at St John the Baptist, is also a cross-bearer during the Sunday service. Sallyann Colgate, 63, is “born and bred in Tilbury”. She worked in the docks and an office in London before giving up work to look after her mother. As well as volunteering at the food bank Sallyann is also a scout leader. Mark Talbot, 61, has been volunteering for 16 months, after 36 years working for the NHS in Thurrock in procurement and as a personal supervisor. He has two children – one a teacher and one an environmental health officer. Maureen Bennett, 76, moved to Tilbury from Gray’s but even before that she came to St John the Baptist. “It’s rewarding to help people,” she says, “a lot of people helped me.” She has volunteered at the food bank since it opened. “I dread to think what would happen if the food bank wasn’t here. A lot of people would go hungry. I always think: ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’” Phyllis Vinton, 77, is a church warden. Her family all worked on the railways and lived in the cottages built for railway workers in Tilbury. She worked in an export and import office and at the Landsdowne and Jack Lobley schools as a welfare assistant. At the food bank, she works with Chris and Maureen. “There’s always been problems but now it’s far worse,” Phyllis says, listing the price of school uniforms, rents and mortgage costs among the difficulties people face. “I hate to think what it would be like if we weren’t here. We are one of the busiest food banks in Thurrock. We try to make people feel OK. It’s not just giving out food parcels. I want people going out feeling better than when they came in.” Brenda Walker, 90, has been volunteering at the food bank since it started. Her dad worked for the Port of London authority with munitions during the war and her husband was a docker. Brenda worked in a sweet shop in Tilbury and for a Hungarian export firm in London. She has two children and was married at the church, which she has been going to since she was 12. Pat Morris, 79, was born, christened and married in Tilbury. Before she retired, she worked for Marks & Spencer in HR. Pat moved from Tilbury but has always lived in Thurrock. “I want to help people who can’t help themselves,” she says, “I feel desperately sorry for them.” Pat says she still sees people at the food bank that she saw 12 years ago when it first opened, while some she has seen only once, such as: “a young girl in debt with a loan shark, never saw her again” and “a girl whose husband was made redundant who had to pay bills or eat and so came to the food bank, never saw her again.” This article was amended on 23 May 2024. The Trussell Trust handed out 95 tonnes of food parcels in Thurrock last year, not “95,955 tonnes” as an earlier version said.