A 14-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after “fainting from hunger” while standing in line at a food bank in London, said the owner of the charity. The unidentified young man is said to have told Earlsfield Foodbank staff in south-west London that he “had not eaten for a while” and that “his cupboards at home were empty”. Writing about the incident on Twitter, the owner of the food bank said: “An ambulance was called to the foodbank today, as a 14-year-old fainted and hit his head. “She had not eaten for a while. The lockers in the house were empty. “The levels of hardship and suffering we see are extreme, it gets worse every week.” Food banks and charities have reportedly raised cries for help amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis. According to the Trussell Trust, 2.5 million emergency food parcels were given to people across the UK last year – with less than a million of them going to children. He is said to have noticed that “his lockers in the house were empty” (Image: Getty) The owner of the food bank continued: “The strong choices – food versus heating, cutting out every other meal – have already been made this winter. “We have already seen children sleeping in coats, people coming to us literally hungry, with little support available. “There is no way we can run. No safety net or cushion available. And after yesterday’s spring statement, things will get much worse. “We are desperately worried about what will follow. Those who have the least already suffer the most. “How can we tolerate this?” The scary story follows a huge increase in the use of food banks across the capital since the pandemic hit. From 2020 to 2021, more than 420,000 people used a food bank in London alone – an increase of almost 200,000 over the previous year. The owner of the food bank said that the boy was “okay” and is recovering at home (Image: Getty) The tweet quickly went viral, garnering nearly 42,000 likes and 11,000 retweets. After the report, he added: “After this thread, many people asked how they could help. “Please write to your MP asking him to address the root causes of poverty. The wonderful organization @ IFAN-UK created a letter template. Finally, he added that the boy was “okay” and was now at home and doing well. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
