Plea for every donation from Telford charity low on stock

Jaden Osbourne (left) and Erin Aston work for Telford Crisis Support and say demand for their help keeps increasing

People are being asked to donate unwanted school uniforms, baby items and food by a charity which says it is struggling to meet local demand.

Staff with Telford Crisis Support say they are seeing a continuous increase in people after their help.

In March, their food bank provided 23,000 meals, compared to 14,000 in March 2022.

"But the donations aren't coming in. So it's not balancing itself out," Jaden Osbourne, from the charity, said.

The charity gave out 490 school uniform parcels in August 2022 and Ms Osbourne said they expected demand to be higher this year.

"We rely on donations. We can't give everything. So it would be great if we had all the stock, which means we can give everything to the parents," she added.

Demand 'skyrockets'

Like many food banks across the country, donations of groceries have dropped.

In May, the Trussell Trust said 13% of food in emergency parcels was bought, whereas before the pandemic it was all donated.

Staff with the Shropshire charity said they had been forced to only provide a basic three meals for people who came to them.

The baby bank, which helps new families with clothes and toiletries, has also seen demand "skyrocket", Ms Osbourne said.

"Since I've been here, in the last year it's doubled which is completely crazy to me," she added.

"We shouldn't have to be here but we are, which is quite sad, and I'm glad that we are because we can help people out."