Food bank's desperate plea as it faces shutdown 'in matter of months'

The Blackpool Big Food Project is appealing for individual and business donors who can save the service - which has supported residents for 15 years - from extinction

A food bank that provides 17,000 meals a week to the UK's most deprived local authority has issued a desperate appeal as it faces being shut down in a "matter of months", its chief executive has said.

The Blackpool Big Food Project has been a community lifeline for thousands of people since it began "as a small initiative" more than a decade ago in 2012. Over the last nearly 15 years, it has become a major collaborative effort that feeds people in need across Blackpool, Fylde, and Wyre, and receives hundreds of tonnes of food to distribute while also providing vital advice on assistance for locals' financial wellbeing.