Cost of Living: Wells foodbank asks for financial donations

Volunteer Margaret spends four mornings a week at the foodbank and says the situation is "scary"

A Somerset foodbank has been asking people to donate money.

Wells Vineyard Foodbank said it spends about £1,500 a month buying food to top-up what is donated by local people.

It said the cost of living crisis meant food donations have reduced, but more people than ever were in need of its help.

Manager Sue Marland said the foodbank had seen a "serious increase" in the number of people needing help, but "need is outstripping giving, now".

On one Wednesday morning when I visited, a band of women, working in an enthusiastically industrious atmosphere, handed out more than 30 emergency food parcels.

A long-standing volunteer remembered that pre-pandemic "we would sit on a couch drinking tea and maybe we wouldn't even see anybody in a day".

Volunteers bag up short-dated fresh food which has been donated by local supermarkets

Waiting outside in the drizzle, I spoke to a father of twin babies. He and his pregnant wife had been living abroad and were visiting for his father's funeral when the first Covid lockdown came in, and they got stuck.

"I had to start looking for help and I found the foodbank, and basically they've saved our lives", he told me.

"We live life one day at a time. It's a daily struggle and these guys have just supported us."

An older man, who's unemployed, became emotional telling me about the "brilliant" help he has had.

"If it wasn't for a place like this I don't know how I would survive," he said.

"I had a sandwich last night and realised I used my last two pieces of bread. Now I've got a new loaf that will last me over a week, so at least I can eat now."

The foodbank says its shelves are empty at the end of each week and it is asking for financial donations

A woman and her partner who collected food for their family said they had "run out of money".

"We just have to swallow our pride sometimes and do what you have to do to survive."

She told me she was not a regular user of the foodbank and has tried to donate items when she can, but the rising cost of energy meant her disability benefits did not stretch far enough at the moment.

All the clients are referred here by doctors, schools and other public bodies, with a slip of paper qualifying them for three days worth of meals.

The city of Wells comes under Mendip District Council which, earlier this month, became the second in the country to declare a cost of living emergency.

That was an assessment Sue Marland agreed with.

Foodbank manager Sue Marland said the organisation has no financial "buffer" any more

"We don't want to have to be feeding people like this. But unless people have the income that they need, we will be," she said.

"We have people who are working and still not making ends meet. And even you'll have couples both working, and still not managing to feed their families, so it is a crisis."

The government has said it will give every household in the UK an energy bill discount of £400 this October as part of a package to tackle soaring prices.

The poorest households will also get a payment of £650 to help with the cost of living.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he had offered "significant support" for households who were facing "acute distress".