Food bank volunteers have been forced to wear body cams after a client held them at knife point.
Manager Lesley Major had a weapon brandished at her and was told her face would be ‘slashed’ if she did not give a client a parcel at Littlecoates Food Bank in Grimsby last week.
The terrifying incident has led to all centres in the area using bodycams and radios.
In a post on social media, the food bank said: ‘Some of you might have heard that one of our female food bank managers in Grimsby had a knife pulled on her by a client last Friday, which is really concerning.
‘After viewing our safety and duty of care policies towards our volunteers and clients, we’ve decided from today our reception team and centre managers will have radios so they can contact each other if incidents happen.
‘They will also be wearing body cameras which will be used for evidential purposes if we ever have an incident like this.’
The food bank have confirmed they won’t ‘review’ any footage of clients and the cameras are only in place in the event of another threat.
This comes as online searches for the nearest food banks have soared by 250% amid the cost of living crisis, with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine pushing up the price of groceries.
It is not the only crime to have been committed in a food bank, as last year thieves stole a London centre’s van and all the food inside.
Brent Food Bank said its vehicle was full of stock which was meant to be delivered to people living in food poverty.
The centre tweeted: ‘I am very sad to report our food bank van was stolen just before midnight right outside our Neasden Centre.
‘I’m even sadder to say that it was full of stock that should have been given to people needing emergency food parcels over the coming weeks.
‘This is a massive blow for us as you can imagine.’
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