Derry nurse who used food bank to survive to share story on BBC Lifeline Appeal

This Sunday, a nine-minute appeal film presented by Reverend Kate Bottley, will air on BBC One at 2.05pm, featuring interviews with people who were forced to use food banks in the Trussell Trust network.

The BBC Lifeline Appeal will share the story of Donna, who volunteers at the Magherafelt Foodbank.

Thanks to the support of her local food bank, Donna is now able to share her story to help others and highlight the need to end food banks in the UK.

Donna, a nurse and mother of three from Derry, saw her life turned upside down when she was hospitalised in 2015 after suffering from two mini-strokes. She was forced to stop working and she began to struggle, so she reached out to her local food bank.

She said: “The fear I had of going to a food bank was to be judged. But the welcome I got was just unreal and the pressure just completely fell off me and I felt somebody was listening.”

“I decided I would have loved to join that team and within a month, I was a volunteer there for the Trussell Trust food bank.”

The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of more than 1,300 food bank centres providing emergency food and financial advice to people in crisis and campaigning for a future where everyone in the UK is able to afford the essentials, like food.

Last year, food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided over 2.5 million emergency parcels to people in crisis, which is more than a third more than the previous year. And almost 1 million of these were for children – that’s two food parcels for children every minute.

Kate Bottley said: “It’s not right that anyone in our country is unable to afford the absolute essentials, like food, clothing and heating. I’ve seen first-hand the incredible work that food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network do to help the people most in need of support, but no charity can replace the dignity of having enough money to buy your own food.“This is a cause that is very close to my heart, so if you can, please support this amazing charity today and help support people locked in poverty and campaign for a future where everyone can afford the essentials.” The Trussell Trust’s BBC Lifeline Appeal airs on Sunday 24th October on BBC One at 2.05pm. The appeal will also be repeated on BBC 2 on Thursday 28th October at 3.05pm and will be available on BBC iPlayer shortly after broadcast