An update from Senior Organiser, Kate McIntosh

Regular readers of our monthly newsletter will know that, in this section of the newsletter, we put the spotlight on individuals whose work supports our mission to tackle the root causes of poverty by harnessing the power of the community. This month, we speak to our Senior Organiser and Communications Lead, Kate McIntosh, two years on from when we first spoke. Read on to find out Kate’s reflections during her first two years with us, what the first half of 2025 has been like, and the ongoing campaigning work that is taking places to tackle the causes of food bank need…

What has the first half of the year been like for the Foodbank?

It’s been incredibly busy in terms of the number of people who need our support, and we’re also preparing for a number of changes. We’re getting ready for a warehouse and office move and at the moment, the team is laying the groundwork for other changes to our service so that we can best support people who need the Foodbank. As the Senior Organiser, I see the impact that our organising and campaigning has, and it’s really encouraging to see them flourishing. We’re seeing signs of community power building, which shows that our goal of empowering people who have needed our support to campaign for change is working. Despite the prevalence of poverty in our city, there is so much to be hopeful about, and I’m feeling confident about the future.

Could you tell us about some of the wider work the Foodbank is doing to work towards ending the need for food banks in Cambridge?

There are several ways that we are actively working towards ending the need for food banks in Cambridge. We’re reducing food bank need through our Fairbite Food Clubs, which provide affordable food and household items and access to community, support and advice. We’re also reducing need through our partnership with Citizens’ Advice in Cambridge, where we connect people on the lowest incomes to advisors who are knowledgeable about the complicated benefit system. This partnership has unlocked  over £1m in funds  for people who have needed the Foodbank, which is fantastic. Alongside this, the work I lead sees us tackle poverty at the root, for example challenging local and national government policy, so that we can prevent future food bank need. We’re constantly thinking about how we can adapt and react to offer greater support to our community so that nobody faces hunger and hardship alone.

How have recent government proposals to cut welfare impacted people on the lowest incomes in Cambridge?

While changes to welfare have not yet come into effect, for people relying on the social security system, the prospect of losing a significant proportion of income is troubling to say the least. Despite our Foodbank community being successful in using their voice to pressure the government to back down on PIP cuts, many people still feel ignored and devalued, so to be struggling and be expected to sacrifice even more has a real impact on people’s faith in the welfare system. People on the lowest incomes need more support, not less, and with these upcoming changes, even after they have been amended, more people could need the support of food banks.

How has the landscape of poverty and hunger has changed in Cambridge since you joined two years ago?

While we are seeing signs of change and success in our community organising, the levels of poverty we’re seeing is getting worse. We’re seeing what it’s like for whole neighbourhoods to experience financial insecurity and hunger for sustained periods. The government could choose to end the need for food banks tomorrow and introduce an Essentials Guarantee if they wanted to, and this is why amplifying the voices of people who have needed the Foodbank is so important to us as an organisation. By empowering people who have experienced hunger and hardship to take action together, we can secure the power we need to achieve lasting change. Hope is there, and there are already people who are better off a result of the work we do and the support we provide. We have campaign leaders who are equipped with the skills to head up independent efforts to tackle the causes of hardship, and a growing network of people who have needed the Foodbank that we’re training to campaign for policy change at a local and national level. Until we live in a city where no one needs to visit a food bank, we will continue to organise the community and work with the government to tackle the causes of hunger.

How can volunteers take action to end food bank need?

My biggest ask is for volunteers to talk to us about what it is they’re seeing that’s causing financial hardship. By working together, led by people who have needed the Foodbank’s support, we can identify what potential solutions might look like, and build campaigns to facilitate real change. An example of this is an independent campaign that I developed and continue to support, on property service charges which are paid on top of rent or a mortgage, predominantly in flats and social housing. Through this campaign, tenants, many of whom are reliant on social security payments, discovered that a housing association had overcharged them by a sum of around £10,000. I’m now supporting those residents and their neighbours in other buildings to change the way these charges are set, and continuing to see how we can support our community on the other issues that they face.

I am so fortunate to spend a lot of time with our Foodbank Welcome Centre volunteers, who often share ideas and stories with me and I’m very keen to continue connecting with volunteers from across our entire network. If any of you have an idea for a campaign or have discovered an issue you would like to draw our attention to, I’d love to speak to you! Please get in touch: Kate.McIntosh@ccfb.org.uk

If you’d like to support us immediately, you can do so by signing our Guarantee Our Essentials petition, which calls on Cambridge MP, Daniel Zeichner, to encourage the government to introduce an Essentials Guarantee. To sign our petition, visit this link.