Food poverty is becoming increasingly real to many people in Weymouth and if it were not for the hard work of volunteers at the town foodbank – thousands could go without over the festive period.
The weeks leading up to Christmas are the busiest by far for Weymouth Foodbank, which has three collection points and one warehouse situated across the town.
Looking inside the warehouse on Granby Industrial Estate, you get a real grasp of the plight that many in the town are facing, as it is reminiscent of a supermarket.
“The Christmas rush started this time last week,” explained Weymouth Foodbank warehouse manager Andy White.
“Because in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, we give out, in addition to the food that we normally give, a Christmas goodie bag.”
Selection boxes donated by the Weymouth and Portland Lions club were being added to people’s food deliveries as well as other goodies such as Christmas cake, biscuits, crisps and toys.
Members of the Lions club had dropped into the foodbank warehouse to donate £1000 along with the selection boxes earlier this month.
“We try and brighten people’s Christmas a little bit if we can,” added Andy, as he talked through the reasons why they add a little extra to the weekly deliveries at this time of year.
The foodbank is seeing more people rely on its service than ever before and despite many people still donating, the cost of living crisis has only made the problem worse.
“It's clear, just from the numbers, that there's a big issue,” added Andy.
“I think one of the challenges we've seen this year is we are seeing a lot more families as opposed to just single people or couples which has been a big shift with the cost of living rises.”
In total there are about 25 people that help out in the warehouse and it is staffed as needed.
There were about ten people on site during the days leading up to Christmas with people helping to sort through donations, making up orders and driving the food to the collection centres.
Volunteers working at the warehouse have also noticed that people who used to donate now need to use the foodbanks themselves.
“We notice people needing the foodbanks used to donate - the need has increased,” Karen Steeples said, whilst making up an order for St Francis’ Church in Littlemoor.
Karen has been helping out for two and a half years with the charity and went on to explain why she felt the need to get involved.
“I was concerned people couldn’t feed their children and put food on the tables so we do our little bit.”
Another volunteer, Kirsten Young, was working her second day at the warehouse and was charged with sorting through the bags of donations
“It is only my second day volunteering and it is a real eye opener,” she revealed. "The food requirements have tripled in demand and is at an all-time high.”
A driver who helps to deliver the food orders added they 'wanted to do more' once they had retired and that along with helping out at St Francis' Church on Wednesday mornings, 'helping to deliver is a bonus'.
Figures from the foodbank reveal that more people used the foodbank in the first eight months of 2023 than for the whole of 2022 and that demand was up by 75% from data acquired from January to August.
This increase in demand has meant Andy is having to buy more from the supermarket to supplement the demand – around £2000 a week the charity estimates.
“The simple answer is yes, there are shortfalls,” Andy said.
“The big change this year is that the level of donations we get in has remained pretty steady, but the demand has gone up.
“We’re also fortunate that we have people who donate financially, so we're able to buy, you can see it's like a supermarket.
“Once every fortnight we get a delivery from Morrison's potentially spending quite a lot of money on food - We get about eight to 10 kgs of food every fortnight.”
The role is enough to keep Andy, who is retired, busy throughout the week and admits it is ‘more full time than it appears’. He is it at the warehouse twice a week and also has to deal with a lot of administrative work as well, including doing the Morrisons deliveries.
Whilst all the volunteers are more than happy to do their bit and help feed Weymouth’s families, the stark reality is that Andy would rather there was no need for the charity at all.
“We'd rather not be here, but because we are needed, we will be here and we will do it to the best of our ability.”
Collection points are available from Westham Methodist Church on Mondays from 10.30am to 12.30pm, Weymouth Baptist Church on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10.30am to 12.30 pm and on Fridays St Francis' Church is open from 10.30am to 1.30pm.
Those who are needed help with food items should get in touch with the foodbank or local authorities about getting a referral number.
To find out more about Weymouth Foodbank and how to get help you can visit their website at www.weymouthfoodbank.co.uk or call on 07531167465.
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