No Child Left Hungry campaign launches in Hackney
A campaign has been launched to fund emergency food for Hackney children and caseworker support to lift their families out of crisis.
Hackney Foodbank’s No Child Left Hungry campaign hopes to raise £50,000 to support families experiencing extreme hardship. The borough has the second highest level of deprivation among children in England (64%).
Chair of Trustees Fatima Habib, said: “Our team regularly meets malnourished families living in unsuitable accommodation and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to meet the huge need in our community. It’s heartbreaking but there is hope and we’re calling on our supporters to help.
“The families we meet are living under huge amounts of stress and that’s taking its toll on their physical and mental health. It’s hard to concentrate at school when your stomach is empty or when you don’t have a proper bed to sleep in. Imagine what the outcomes could be for children given a fair start in life.”
Many of the children supported by Hackney Foodbank live in cramped, damp homes – often in sparsely furnished temporary accommodation and without enough food.
Of the 311,985 emergency meals Hackney Foodbank distributed last year, a third went to children. The charity helps families fleeing domestic abuse, gives out school uniforms, secures furniture grants so children have beds to sleep in and tables to eat at and runs a lunch support scheme to ensure children don’t go hungry during the school holidays.
In 2026 they expect to give out more than £125,000 worth of emergency food for children and spend around £50,000 on caseworker support for families.
Fatima added: “Our caseworkers do amazing work lifting households out of poverty – helping with benefits and grant applications, supporting with employment and housing issues and referring on to an expert debt advisor. More than half of the people they supported in 2025 haven’t needed to return for emergency food. Where there is despair, they bring hope.
“We are all in this together – please help us to lift families out of poverty and ensure no child in Hackney goes hungry.”
Donations to the No Child Left Hungry campaign will help fund caseworker support for families and emergency food for children.
To donate, visit: bit.ly/no-child-left-hungry
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A new report (released on January 27th, 2026) by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows a record number of people in the UK are living in “very deep poverty” (their household incomes fail to cover the cost of food, energy bills and clothing).
Peter Matejic, the JRF’s chief analyst, said: “Poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.”
New data released this autumn reveal Hackney and Tower Hamlets have the highest levels of deprivation among children in England.
They are also ranked as the two most deprived areas for older people.
According to the English Indices of Deprivation Report 2025, 64% of children in Hackney live in income-deprived households, compared with 55% of older people (those aged over 60).
In some areas of Stamford Hill, 99% of children live in income-deprived households. Across the borough, 16% of neighbourhoods are classed as highly deprived (across England the figure is 10%).
Each month Hackney Foodbank helps an average of 590 children.