Cambridge foodbank demand down due to financial advice

Steve Clay, chief executive of Cambridge City Foodbank, said about a quarter of its service users would not need to come back

A city foodbank has said a quarter of people who used the partnership scheme no longer need it after it helped them with their finances.

Cambridge City Foodbank and Citizens Advice said it helped 217 people access funds, grants and unclaimed benefits, totalling about £280,000 in income.

Fifty four people no longer needed its services, the foodbank said.

Foodbank chief executive Steve Clay said these people's circumstances were now "radically different".

"We want to be a charity that ends the need for foodbanks and enable people to benefit from the support out there," said Mr Clay.

The partnership with Citizens Advice provided foodbank visitors with access to advisers and the forms for financial aid.

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Citizens Advice worker Usha Bance told the BBC: "Some people don't realise that their situation is unique and that they do need other support.

"I think this is why [the project] made such a big impact on what people end up with after we worked with them."

She added that helping people off the poverty line could be "overwhelming" and that "I might not see these people again, but they have gone away happy".