Meath Food Bank to close due to lack of support and “abuse of service” says founder

Meath Food Bank is to close after eleven years of supporting local people in need due to “abuse of the service” according to its founder.

Ashling Lowe took to Facebook to deliver the sad news saying that the cost of living crisis and the lack of government funding also played a part in the decision.

The post added that all remaining funds, shelving and trolleys from the Meath Food Bank will be donated to the fellow Navan charity, the Joshua Community.

“It's with a heavy heart I’m stepping down from chairperson role I've held for 11 years,” said Ashling.

“There has been a fine line crossed ,abuse of the service and of myself being a volunteer. My mental health has taken a toll and my physical health. I’ve enjoyed my charity work for the past 11 years and made friends with some amazing people young and old,” she added.

“ A lot of people that genuinely needed us as a service I’m glad we were of service to you and thank you for the support you gave us. As volunteers,we struggled paying rent and food, also girls who did deliveries struggled with petrol costs which caused stress to the group. We were not supported by government with funding, we kept going for as long as we could, the cost of living has hit us hard as a group.

The food bank founder thanked everyone who supported the group as well as businesses and the general public.

“If we managed to help or change at least one person life for the better it would mean a lot to me and the girls. We will be back in January to continue the winding down process and hand over shelving and trolleys to Joshua.

“We worked so hard for the past 11 years with our walk, helping the homeless and helping children and families on our own time with no wages just as volunteers.

“The decision didn't come easy but I knew in July that my health was taking a bashing and I needed to change and not have any added stress in my life.

"There are great services out there for people to still avail of for their families to get extra support."

Earlier this year the kind hearted mum of one who has been at the helm of the food bank since 2014 said she was "praying for a miracle" to keep the doors open in order to continue to help local families.

In 2021 Ashling made an appeal to the public for assistance as overheads resulted in the community initiative struggling to survive. She later went on to praise the local community for coming to the rescue and saving the vital service from closure just days before Christmas.

In 2022, Meath Food Bank was officially designated a charity by the charity regulator with the Trim woman and her volunteers helping thousands of families since its inception in 2014.

Ashling and her team offered assistance to approximately 3,500 people in the county during covid delivering up to twenty hampers a day to families in need at the height of the pandemic.

Ashling previously told how people from “all walks of life and all different circumstances” avail of the service.

“We have Irish soldiers on our list and they are in private rented accommodation and their pensions are absolutely shameful and they might ring once a month for help after they have paid their rent and there is just nothing left not even for heat or food," she said.

“I have so many people who are ashamed ringing, the first thing you are met with is somebody breathless that you can't even understand on the phone and that is heartbreaking because these are people who have worked their whole lives who have never had to ask for anything but when you get so desperate and you have nothing left in your press to feed your kids, you'll do anything.”