Foodbanks

The cost of living crisis has made it much more difficult for many people in Birmingham to afford food. If this is something you are experiencing, there are a lot of different ways you can get food cheaply or for free. The Birmingham Food Justice Network Map has been created to help you find nearby options, which include foodbanks and other options such as food clubs/food pantries (where you can get cheaper food) and community cafés (where you can get a free or cheap hot meal).

Food banks provide a food parcel for at least 3 days for free. A map just showing foodbanks is available: Birmingham Food Justice Network Map

These foodbanks use a voucher system. You can get a voucher from different services including advice services, social services, support workers in schools, law centres, social centres, GPs and the Citizens Advice Bureau. Most of these only accept 3 vouchers every 6 months to make sure that there is enough food for everyone in need.

You can request a Foodbank voucher online, or by contacting our customer service centre.

Foodbank voucher request form: Begin now

Phone our customer service centre on 0121 303 1116 to book a referral. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

You cannot attend a foodbank without a valid referral from the customer service centre.

After you have submitted the online form we will try to phone you within 24 hours. However, if you submit the form on Saturday or Sunday, you may not receive a phone call until Tuesday.

It should be noted that we are receiving a large number of foodbank voucher requests at this time and the response time is longer than normal. We thank you for your patience and will phone you as soon as possible.

We cannot issue a voucher unless we speak to you to verify your request, you will need to be prepared to answer our phone call so that we can give you your voucher number.

If we cannot contact you, we will close your request.

We know that accessing a foodbank or another project for the first time can be daunting. However, people volunteering do their utmost to make visitors feel welcome.

Here are some testimonials from people who have used food projects in Birmingham:

Foodbank user in Birmingham:

“The people at the foodbank were wonderful, they understood and saved us.”

Surplus Food project (“pay-as-you-feel”) user in Birmingham:

“It was just a small personal touch that made you feel welcome and on the occasions where I was on a tiny budget, it also felt like somebody did care that times were tough.”

Page last updated: 22 May 2024