Hinckley Foodbank Needs Tinned Meat and Nappies to Help Families

The Hinckley Area Foodbank in Leicestershire issued an urgent appeal on 3 February 2026 for tinned meat, tinned fish and nappies to help local residents facing financial pressure. Organisers say while staples such as pasta and cereal are generally well-stocked, donations of protein-rich canned goods and disposable nappies are running low.

Hinckley Christian Community Action (HCCA), which runs the service, says the rising cost of tinned goods has contributed to a roughly 25% drop in meat and fish donations compared with the previous year. Project manager Julie Baker said the foodbank has increasingly had to buy these items itself to keep emergency parcels nutritionally balanced; in past coverage she said the service had been spending around A3500 a week topping up supplies.

There is a specific request for nappies in sizes 3 to 6 to help parents who are struggling to cover basic costs, including some in full-time work. Trussell Trust data shows rising demand for emergency parcels nationally, and frontline foodbanks report greater need for hygiene items as household budgets are squeezed by high energy bills and the wider cost-of-living pressures.

Donations can be left at permanent collection points in local supermarkets (examples include Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco) or taken directly to distribution sites such as St John’s Hinckley during opening hours (St John’s operates a collection point on Mondays from 1pm to 3pm). The foodbank supports thousands of local people — around 6,300 in the last reported period — and relies on these specific contributions to keep shelves stocked through the winter months. Donors are advised to check current collection-point arrangements with their local store or the Hinckley Area Foodbank website before visiting, as some supermarkets have moved to cash-only donations in recent months.