Eddie Izzard visits Eastbourne Foodbank: ‘They shouldn’t exist but they have to’

Eddie, English stand-up comedian, actor and activist, grew up in Eastbourne.

She is doing her sold-out one-woman show of Great Expectations at Eastbourne College on Sunday (September 11) with all profits going to the foodbank.

In preparation, Eddie visited Eastbourne Foodbank in Brampton Road.

As part of the visit Eddie made a video showing people inside the warehouse and explaining what is needed most by the charity.

She said: “These people work very hard to get food to people who need it. They shouldn’t exist but they have to.”

The video goes on to show that pasta sauce, cereal, long-life milk, and folding buggies are items the foodbank needs.

Jess Holliday, campaigns and communications manager for Eastbourne Foodbank, said: "It was an absolute pleasure to meet Eddie Izzard. Eddie is fundraising for us and we are very grateful for her support.

"We showed her round our warehouse at Brampton Road and she was really interested in our work.

"Here at Eastbourne Foodbank, we believe foodbanks shouldn't need to exist and Eddie was very supportive of that view. Her help in raising awareness of poverty and enabling us to reach a wider audience is invaluable for our charity, especially during this cost of living crisis."

This comes after the foodbank held a day of action in the Beacon shopping centre.

As part of the day, shoppers shared their thoughts, feelings and concerns on the cost of living crisis.

The charity believes everyone should be able to afford life’s essentials and its campaigns team is working towards and end for the need for foodbanks.

Jess said: “Families are facing unthinkable struggles through the cost of living crisis and we know this is only set to get worse as energy prices rise but we believe we should all be able to afford the essentials.

“It was really interesting to speak to the people of Eastbourne about this issue. They had some really valuable contributions to make. Many spoke about the situation being ‘terrifying’ and others said it was an avoidable crisis.”

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