Busiest-ever year for Ludlow Food Bank
More people than ever are relying on handouts from the food bank in Ludlow, according to a new report.
The service helped a record number of people in 2019, with December being the busiest month to date.
Co-ordinator Ruth Davies said: "2019 has been a very busy year for Ludlow Food Bank. We've given away more food to more people than ever before.
"This year has seen the number of food parcel given out reach a new high record. Last year 2018 was the busiest we'd had, with 315 food parcels given out. In 2019 we gave out 471 food parcels.
"Back in January I thought that we were going to have a busy year, as we gave out 48 parcels in 31 days, and it hasn’t really quietened down since.
"August was also very busy, probably because several children who normally receive free school meals were not provided for at school, so their parents struggled to feed them."
Appeal
In September, Ruth feared the food bank may not be able to continue for much longer as organisers had already spent more than £9,000 on food, and the financial reserves were running low.
However, following an appeal for items, the charity was inundated with donations from local churches, care homes and schools.
"We particularly want to thank Bikold for their generosity every month," Ruth added.
"Our cupboards are now quite full and we have had more people sign up to give us money on a regular basis. The generosity of people in Ludlow is something we should be very proud of.
"Some of the stories we hear from food parcel recipients are quite heartbreaking, but we are happy to be able to ease their burden a bit by giving them food to eat at a difficult time in their lives."
The annual report revealed the food bank has given out enough food to feed 1,100 people for a week, and when repeat parcels are removed, the service has helped 623 different individuals in Ludlow.
Single men are once again the biggest group of people who have received food parcels, followed by two-parent families.
