THE number of people fed by Farnham Foodbank is starting to level out - but despite this the charity is struggling to meet running costs.

Recent reports have suggested that foodbank use across Surrey has risen well above the national average, but Farnham has not seen the same dramatic increase.

Over the last year 1,400 people were fed by the Farnham Foodbank, of which 651 were children.

In the previous year the figure was 1,300.

Explaining the modest rise in demand, Rose Williamson, project manager of the Farnham Foodbank, said: ”I believe this is because we are now well established in the town and agencies are aware of the service we provide.

“It will be interesting to see the final figures for this year. I am unable to comment on that at the moment other than to say that we continue to be busy and there is no sign of them dropping.

“The busiest periods are December and when the temperature drops because people can’t afford to heat their homes as well as eat.”

Rose added the key reasons people in Farnham are referred to a foodbank are “low income, benefit delays, benefit changes, debt, sickness, domestic violence and homelessness”, in that order.

“The greatest challenge we face is actually funding the project,” she continued.

“We are struggling to meet running costs and without financial backing we can’t operate.”

One-off or monthly donations can be made by clicking the ‘donate now’ button on either the Farnham Foodbank website found at www.farn

ham.foodbank.org.uk or facebook.com/farnham

foodbank.

The centres also accept cash donations and cheques can be made payable to ‘Farnham Foodbank’ and posted to the Vineyard Centre.

The current food demands are: tinned meat, instant mash, sponge puddings, custard, fruit juice, tinned fruit, tinned vegetables and tomatoes.