Monday July 14th 2025
Assistant Foodbank Manager at Midlothian Foodbank, Janice Burns, stacking storage shelves
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Midlothian’s only foodbank fed 9,503 adults and children last year, providing 9,000 emergency food parcels. Despite the amount of people and families helped in 2024, Midlothian Foodbank is experiencing an increase in referrals at a time where food donations are low.
With referrals through the roof, the foodbank is worried about what the summer is going to look like due to kids not having access to free lunches. Changes this summer have already been made with this year being the first where the foodbank is not able to provide any cover over the school holidays and being un-able to supply their usual Farmfoods vouchers due to a lack of funding, only providing emergency food parcels.
Midlothian Foodbank runs on a referal only basis, meaning people will come to receive help only once they have seen a professional, such as Citizens Advice. Due to the rising cost of living, the foodbank is experiencing an increased load of referrals with this rising cost also providing issues suroruning the amount of food being donated.
Janice Burns, the Assistant Foodbank Manager at Midlothian Foodbank explained, “It’s changed a lot, especially with the cost of living crisis. We have managed up to now but our other problem is funding core costs. You can receive funding for other things, but actual staff wages are very difficult to get. Also, our donations are low due to the cost of living but this has also put our referrals up.”
“It’s emergency food, it’s designed to get them out of a difficult situation. It might be a bill they weren’t expecting but most people nowadays are living month-to-month and don’t have a big stash of savings to fall back on.”
Opened on the 1st of June 2013 as an initiative by the Gorebridge Parish Church, Janice has been there since the beginning after the Church Minister approached her and asked her to set up the foodbank. Becomming part of the Trussle Trust (a trust that supports over 400 UK foodbanks), Midlothian Foodbank has provided the last hope for many people across Midlothian, helping 9,503 adults last year with around 4,000 of that being in the winter months.
Located next to Gorebridge Parish Church, they recieve donations mainly through drop-off points located in supermarkets across Midlothian with donations rarely being made from people walking through the door. Despite the many drop-off points, food donations are at a low with the foodbank being unable to provide some products such as dog food to pet owners.
Janice explained, “The other thing people do is set up a standing order. During the pandemic I encouraged it because people were saying ‘we normally donate to you, what are we going to do?, and I said you spend £5 to donate to us so donate £5 through a standing order.”
Despite different streams of donations, this year is the first year since opening that the foodbank will not be able to provide cover to children who get free school lunches. This is due to a lack of stock and no funding from the council that they have received in previous years.
In the past, they have provided Farmfood vouchers to families during the school holidays which was very popular. This was made possible due to council funding that was initially supposed to be a cash first donation until Janice thought of the idea of vouchers.
“We became a trusted partner with the council and they gave us money. They were looking for a cash first option which scared the life out of me. But then I thought, what about vouchers?” Janice explained, “So, we started giving out farmfood vouchers over the summer to families for their kids that were getting free school meals.”
“We had long big talks about the Scottish government having a cash first approach. I said ‘I’m not giving anybody cash’, that’s not guaranteeing to me that they are buying food. I told them farmfood vouchers, granted they could sell them but I gave them out in good faith, knowing or thinking they were going to buy food for their children.”
“This summer is the only summer we’ve not been able to provide any cover because I haven’t got enough stock and no funding from the council. It will be interesting to see how people manage.”
With the growing popularity of pantries, Midlothian is home to 8 food pantries and community fridges spread across the main towns but only home to one foodbank. This is a positive improvement but pantries can’t provide free emergency food that Midlothian Foodbank can. Pantries are helpful for people with small budgets or low income but do charge for food parcels but at a very deducted price.
“Pantries are great, you pay about £3.50. But, not everyone has £3.50 to spend. You still have to catch those people that can’t afford pantries and there are a lot of them out there”, Janice said.
Catching those who can’t afford pantries is what Midlothian Foodbank is there for and with 1 in 5 UK citizens living below the poverty line, they provide a crucial support service. The foodbank used to manage successfully on donations and food drives but now due to growing costs, acquiring food is more of a worry.
A food collection technique that has worked well in the past are food drives.
Janice explained, “We do food drives, we used to do two a year, one in the summer and one in the winter but the summer ones have been done away. What we do is get bags and the staff take a bag and we ask people to put stuff in the bag. It’s not always what we need. So when we do food drives, we get a bulk of food to keep us going.”
Food drives consist of members of the foodbank, often accompanied by another charity such as Number 11 Recoverary Hub, standing at supermarket entrances with bags and a list, encouraging the public to buy some extra non-perishable food during their shop. During their first food drive, Midlothian Foodbank managed to collect over two and a half tonnes of food.
Another community initiative that the foodbank does is Thursday lunch clubs, offering a three course meal to any ages that have been referred to the foodbank. This has also been effected by a lack of donations as the foodbank previously had an over 65’s club and a normal club but now they have recently combined the two to create a large Thursday community lunch that takes up a large hall in the facility provided by the church.
“Thursday is possible due to donations, we don’t charge for it. We do recommend they pay 50p a course but a lot of people put in more. So it’s kind og self-efficient but the only thing that’s costly is the bus we provide for the over 65’s but I don’t want to stop that”.
Providing transport to the foodbank to over 65’s, they have been paying £5 a week since the foodbank began thye service but now it’s getting to the stage where the foodbank is considering raising the price due to the growing costs of the bus service.
Speaking to Janice she explained her passion and why the foodbank is so resilient in time sof struggle, saying, “We strongly feel that no one should face hunger in this day and age. The most successful food bank will be the one that has to close its doors.”
“Until this happens we provide emergency food and practical support to people in their hardest moments. We work with partners and local communities to ensure everyone gets the right help.”
“We hear some horrendous stories. Sometimes the customer wants to talk and sometimes they don’t but we have done a lot of hugging and comforting people in tears. We even get people calling us up about their neighbours. But, I think if we weren’t here, there would be a lot of people struggling so I am very glad we are here.”
Despite donations being low and referrals only rising, Midlothian Foodbank and their team continue to provide essential support to many people struggling, being the only organisation of its kind in Midlothian. Since opening their doors in 2013, they have helped thousands of people yearly, providing vital support to people at a low point. With many people that come for food parcels being ashamed or embarrassed, as Janice explained, the caring team behind the foodbank allows people to not only feed themselves but have a comforting space to come when at a low.
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