Leicester Food Bank in Limbo as Council Closes Fosse Centre

A Leicester food bank that feeds more than 100 families every week is facing an uncertain future after the city council confirmed it will close the building the service has operated from for years — with no suitable replacement yet identified.

Fosse Food Bank Fights for Survival as Council Shuts Its Home

Alice Hawkins Community Projects, a community interest company (CIC) based in the annexe of Fosse Neighbourhood Centre and Library in Newfoundpool, west Leicester, provides over 100 food parcels a week to households in the Fosse and Westcotes wards. The group also runs English language classes, children’s lunch clubs, and a community garden — a lifeline operation quietly holding together one of the city’s most deprived corners.

Leicester City Council confirmed in March 2026 that Fosse Neighbourhood Centre and Library will close, citing the “low usage” of the facility and the “poor condition” of the building. The decision is part of a wider package of cuts designed to save the council £500,000 in 2026/27 and £1.57m in every subsequent financial year — a fraction of the £23m in savings the authority needs to balance its budget.

The council insists it will work in partnership with Alice Hawkins Community Projects to find them a new home within Fosse ward. Officers held an early meeting with the group to discuss their requirements. But as of now, no suitable alternative has been found, and those running the food bank are blunt about what that means.

Lynn Wyeth, representing the group, said the situation remains entirely “up in the air.” She said: “Nobody can come up with anything suitable. The building is big, it’s old, it costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to run. We’re not naive. It’s the lack of ability to fund something alternative and help us to do that.”

If no free, suitable premises can be secured, the food bank will close. Ms Wyeth was direct: “If the council are not willing to reinvest any of the savings they’re going to make from Fosse, we’re not going to be there.”

A Community Built by Volunteers — Now at Risk

The stakes could not be higher for the families who depend on the service. Alice Hawkins Community Projects is staffed primarily by volunteers. The food bank opens on Saturdays from 10.30am to noon at the Fosse Neighbourhood Centre, LE3 5GH, and has become a trusted fixture in the neighbourhood.

Ms Wyeth painted a picture of a community that wants to help itself — and is being denied the means to do so. “We have got a whole bunch of people who are coming to volunteer. The community wants to help its neighbours and it’s going to potentially fall down,” she said.

“We’ve got ourselves a nice place the community can use and it is such a shame,” she added.

Adding to the pressure, the Fosse Neighbourhood Centre building itself has been assessed as unsuitable for transfer to community groups under the council’s Community Asset Transfer policy — the sports hall has already been closed for safety reasons due to the presence of RAAC concrete in the roof. The council’s estates team will begin marketing the site for disposal once the final decision is confirmed.

Councillors from the Green, Liberal Democrat, and Conservative parties have all raised objections to the council’s broader library and community centre plans, calling them in for additional scrutiny at the full council meeting on 26 March. They argue the council has the funds to keep sites open if it chooses to prioritise them.

Aasiya Bora, Green councillor for Stoneygate ward, said: “There is at least £60m in usable reserves at the city council. These cuts are a deliberate choice by Labour locally. Libraries and local centres are at the heart of our communities — damage them and you are unpicking the fabric holding neighbourhoods together.”

A city council spokesperson said: “The council is committed to supporting Alice Hawkins Community Project to relocate, once the decision for the future provision of libraries and community centres has been finalised. Officers held a pre-emptive meeting with the project earlier this month to establish their requirements and will work with them following a decision to explore options. In the meantime, the foodbank is operating at Fosse Neighbourhood Centre as normal.”

What This Really Means

Let’s be straightforward about this. A food bank feeding more than a hundred Leicester families every week could disappear — not because nobody wants it, not because volunteers aren’t willing to show up, and not because the community doesn’t value it. It could disappear because the council is closing the building it operates from and cannot, so far, find it anywhere else to go.

The council’s reassurances sound reasonable on paper. They say they’re committed to helping Alice Hawkins Community Projects relocate. Officers have held meetings. Promises have been made. But Lynn Wyeth — someone who has built this service from the ground up and knows the area inside out — says nobody has come up with anything suitable. The community space in this part of Leicester is, in her words, simply too crowded.

Meanwhile, the council is closing Fosse Neighbourhood Centre to save money on a building in poor condition. That is a defensible decision in isolation. What is not defensible is walking away from the consequences. Saving £1.57m a year means nothing if the saving comes at the cost of 100 families going without food.

Opposition councillors point out that Leicester City Council is sitting on at least £60m in usable reserves. Whether that figure is entirely accurate or somewhat contested, the political reality is clear: these cuts are choices, not inevitabilities. The Labour-run council has decided that balancing the books takes precedence over finding a food bank a new home in west Leicester. Residents of Fosse and Westcotes wards — many of whom are already struggling with the cost of living — deserve to know that.

The council has time to fix this before the building closes. It should use that time to secure genuinely suitable, free premises for Alice Hawkins Community Projects rather than leaving volunteers and families in limbo. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one — and we’ll make sure you know what happens next.

Have Your Say

Do you use or volunteer at the Fosse food bank, or has your family relied on the service? We want to hear from you — drop a comment below and share your experience. Stories like this one only get told properly with people from the community speaking up. And if you want to stay on top of what’s happening across Leicester, sign up for our free local news updates so you never miss a story that affects your neighbourhood.