Farnham Foodbank has revealed that 1,499 people were fed by them in the last year, 602 of which were children.

Between April, 1 2017, and March, 31 2018, 574 three-day emergency food parcels were provided to local people in crisis by Farnham Foodbank, meaning there were only 50 less people but 12 more vouchers than the previous year.

The foodbank, a member of The Trussell Trust’s network which has reported a UK-wide increase of foodbank use, believes that numbers fed are likely to increase with the rollout of Universal Credit, something yet to happen in Farnham.

This is likely to cause an increase due to the adverse impact of the initial wait, sometimes six weeks without money, the lack of available statutory support, the inability of payments to cover the cost of living and poor administration.

As part of a national network campaigning for change, the foodbank is working hard to offer practical emergency support to help prevent people going hungry, while participating in vital research and raising awareness about the issues local people are facing.

Rose Williamson, Farnham Foodbank manager, said: “We don’t want to be here forever. No one in Farnham should need a foodbank’s help and we want to see an end to local people needing emergency food at all.

“We’re dedicated to ensuring that people in our community with no money for food are able to access emergency support, and that has only been possible in the last year because of the incredible generosity shown by local people in donating food, time and funds. Thank you.”

It costs around £18,000 a year to run the foodbank, all of which is raised locally to enable volunteers to continue their work.

Find out more about supporting the foodbank at www.farnham.foodbank.org.uk, or email [email protected].