Beyond emergency food: how food bank caseworkers are changing lives

Hackney Foodbank has changed drastically since 2023, when we employed our first caseworker.

We’ve evolved from being predominantly emergency food provision to being a charity actively helping people escape poverty and move on to better situations.  Caseworkers are at the centre of that change.

In 2025, our caseworkers helped increase visitor income by around £794,000 (an average of £1,800 extra per household, per year.

They included people like John* who, two years ago, suffered a stroke that paralysed him down one side.  Unaware he was entitled to benefits, John was receiving emergency food from Hackney Foodbank. In January, our caseworkers helped him apply for disability benefits and council tax reduction – he received £14,000 in backdated payments and his annual income went up by £5,000.

When Carla* came to us in February, she was in significant debt to DWP, who had been overpaying her and were demanding it back.  Hackney Foodbank advocated for her with DWP and had £8,200 of debt removed from her account and we helped her secure Housing Benefit and Attendance Allowance, which has boosted her monthly income.

Mike* suffers from significant mental illness and, for the past five years, has been living in a basement flat which often floods.  Our caseworkers helped him submit a formal complaint to his housing association regarding the condition of his property and we helped him apply for PIP (disability benefits).  Repair works have since been completed in his flat and his benefits have gone up by £7,259 per year (with a backdated payment of £1,900).

In an average month, Hackney Foodbank’s caseworkers open around 50 new cases – helping visitors with everything from applications for benefits or grants to advocating for better housing and referring on to an expert debt advisor. 

Caseworker Manager Lara Callaway said: “Many of the people we help don’t know what benefits they’re entitled to or how to apply – they’re sometimes embarrassed or reluctant to ask for help. Many face considerable health challenges that can restrict their ability to work and we often meet people in substandard housing.  

“Poverty can happen to any of us. Any one of us could lose our employment and struggle, any one of us could face a mental health crisis or be struck by serious illness.  What we’re seeing is that the social security net that should be catching these people is failing – many of the visitors we meet have been initially turned down for benefits we know they’re entitled to and some have no idea they’re entitled to anything at all.

“Hackney Foodbank’s first priority is to provide emergency food to those who need it but increasingly we’re proactively working to help visitors maximise their incomes – so they can live independently without the need for emergency food.”