Generous shoppers donated hundreds of items from their trolleys to help Marlborough and Pewsey’s most desperate families on Saturday.
Devizes Food Bank set up shop in the Marlborough branch of Waitrose to collect food, and to raise awareness about the hundreds of people caught in food poverty in the area.
And volunteers from the Trussell Trust, which runs the food bank initiative, were joined by MP Claire Perry, who had set out her own stall in Waitrose’s cafe as part of her series of ‘supermarket surgeries’, to meet and talk to the electorate.
Waitrose manager Tim Pike told Marlborough News Online: “Waitrose’s festive campaign is ‘give more this Christmas’.
“We’re giving more through our Community Matters ‘green token’ scheme – £3,000 a month in November in December instead of the normal £1,000 – and branches across the country are supporting their local food banks, giving our customers a chance to support the most needy people in their communities this Christmas.”
Mrs Perry said: “I think food banks are an amazing initiative. They help people in crisis; it fills a need.
“Especially at this time of year it’s a great opportunity for people to express their compassion.”
Devizes Food Bank volunteer Christopher Sloane explained: “All of the donations will be sorted into food parcels, which will be given to individuals or families in desperate need.
“Each box feeds a single person, or a family, for three days. Typically the people we help have been effected by cuts to their benefits, payment cheques not coming through, or because they are in serious debt.
“In 2011 we were able to help 204 families and 284 individuals in the Kennet area, and by October this year we had surpassed that figure.
“We have more and more people coming to us for help every year, and when the Welfare Reform Act comes into force in 2013, and benefits are cut further, we expect even bigger problems.”
- To find out more about the Devizes Food Bank log on to www.devizesfoodbank.co.uk