Oswestry food bank hands out 600 parcels in one year

And the Oswestry & Borders Foodbank has received 18,000kg of donated food and toiletries from kind hearted local people.

The foodbank, which opened in 2011, is run by a team of volunteers in Oswestry and Ellesmere, led by Phil Simpson.

He said: "We're a very peculiar organisation in that we'd rather not exist. People's increasing reliance on food banks within the UK tells its own story really.

"Many users of the service may only need to use us as an emergency measure, whereas others find themselves reliant on us because they find themselves in a poverty trap and are unable to free themselves from its constraints.

"We are waiting to see what effect any actions by the new government will have. With £12 billion of cuts announced in their manifesto it may well be that the need for will increase in the coming months and our current stock levels will be needed.

"We are particularly grateful to all our donors - the people who regularly put items in a collecting box in their church or workplace, at Tesco in Ellesmere or Sainsbury's in Oswestry, and also the one-off donations such as schools and churches at harvest time, or for example the staff at Woodside Primary School who donated 100 chocolate advent calendars last December.

"Without the donations of food the foodbank would not exist, and also without the generous financial donations from a large number of individuals and groups we would not be able to operate in our building in Beatrice Street. Our main costs are rent, electricity and phone and we are especially thankful to those who support us with a monthly standing order."

There are at least 10 food banks in Shropshire, including bases in Newport, Whitchurch, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and Welshpool. The majority have been set up in conjunction with the Trussell Trust, like Oswestry's, but others have been created by community groups.

All of these are happy to accept donations of UHT or powdered milk, sugar, cartons of fruit juice, soup, pasta sauces, tinned tomatoes, tinned rice pudding, tinned sponge pudding, cereals, tea bags and instant coffee, rice and pasta, tinned meat, tinned fish, tinned vegetables, tinned fruit, jam and biscuits or snack bars.

Agencies hand out vouchers to those in need who then go to the foodbank for supplies which last for about three days.