Demand at Trowbridge Storehouse foodbank grows

Manager Jill Neighbour recently won a town council civic award for her work at Storehouse foodbank

A foodbank manager has said they are now feeding the same amount of people in a month, as they did in the whole first year they operated.

Opened in 2010, Trowbridge Storehouse Foodbank is now seeing between 150 to 250 people through the door every week.

It comes amid the sharpest increase in UK absolute poverty in 30 years.

Manager Jill Neighbour said it was "painful" to see some of the circumstances people were in "through no fault of their own".

Ms Neighbour said the team "want to love" their clients "back to wellness"

"I say I've got the best job in the world and the worst job in the world all at the same time because it's an absolute privilege and I love it and I love the clients," Ms Neighbour said.

"But it's also one of those things where you feel it really shouldn't need to be here."

Ms Neighbour said there were a wide range of reasons why people end up using their services, including the cost of living crisis and the "unforeseeable" such as job losses and health issues.

"There are just so many reasons why people who have lived perfectly normal lives, suddenly can't and it's so distressing," she said.

Spencer, who has been homeless for two years, said the foodbank was his "safe space"

Spencer, who has been homeless for two years and uses the service weekly, said: "Without it I'd be up the river without a paddle.

"It's a safe space. It's safer in a way than it is being in society.

"I live in a tent with my best friend's widow. She suffers with PTSD through loss, so I look after her."

He said the foodbank always makes sure the food he receives is pan friendly, as he cooks dinner using pans on an open fire.

Ms Neighbour said they were finding it difficult to keep on top of regular flows of items such as toilet roll, sugar, shampoo and coffee.

The foodbank also offers hot showers to the homeless, something Ms Neighbour said helps them to feel like "a human being again".

On donations, Ms Neighbour, who recently received a civic award from the town council for her work, said while they have never been at a point where they have "nothing to give", they are finding it difficult to keep on top of regular flows of certain expensive items such as toilet roll, sugar, shampoo and coffee.

"We are keen to make sure that every single person who comes in here knows, that we absolutely really just want to love them back to wellness," Ms Neighbour added.