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Bishop prays for Norwich Foodbank to not exist
8 October 2024
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Norwich Foodbank should not exist was the prayer of the Bishop of Norwich as he paid a visit to the charity’s food and packing warehouse on Henderson Business Park in the city earlier today.
The Rt Rev Graham Usher said: “My prayer today, above all, is that this place shouldn’t exist,” during his visit to meet staff, volunteers and clients as Patron of the Christian charity.
Speaking to Network Norfolk during the visit, Bishop Graham said: “Norwich Foodbank provides vital support to people who are finding their situation really challenging. But the model which is used here, which I think is so inspiring and valuable, is that it goes hand-in-hand with getting people the support they need, working in partnership with a whole range of organisations from the Red Cross and Age UK Norwich to Shelter and Citizens Advice, because food is never the real issue.
“The fact that people are hungry is because of other things going on in their lives. So when we can help people with the source of some of those challenges then they begin to flourish as God intends us all to have life in all of its fullness.
“So my rather bizarre prayer for this charity is ‘God make the Norwich Foodbank not exist’, because if we did not need a foodbank, my goodness we would be in a better place as a society.
Asked how churches can better engage with foodbanks, Bishop Graham said: “Many people are very generous week by week, putting items into a supermarket or church collection point and that is all vital. But alongside that, as Christians, we need to be prophetically vocal about the issues that people who use foodbanks are facing in their lives.
“So be prophetically vocal in writing to our MPs raising concerns, having conversations within churches and communities about these issues such as lack of work, mental ill health, the challenges of loneliness in our society. There are so many different issues that we can campaign about and try to make a difference so that we can build something more of the vision of God’s kingdom here on earth. The foodbank is just one part of how we can contribute towards God’s hope for us all.”
While at the Foodbank, Bishop Graham heard from former client and now foodbank volunteer Michael Goldie, who attends Alive Church. A former pub manager, he became bankrupt and homeless and turned to the Foodbank for help and now helps at the distribution centre at the church on Nelson Street in Norwich.
Bishop Graham also promised to try to raise some of the issues he heard about during the visit in a future speech in the House of Lords to gain wider attention for them.
Click here to watch a video of the visit.