Gloucester Foodbank’s new manager unaware of huge demand for help

The brand new supervisor of a metropolis centre foodbank has mentioned she is shocked on the excessive stage of demand for its assist.The Gloucester Foodbank has been working since 2005 and over the past 5 years, the variety of meals parcels the charity gives yearly has doubled to greater than 17,000.Vicky Ranford mentioned she had not appreciated the extent of demand for the foodbank earlier than she began working there:”I wasn’t actually conscious simply how busy it was and the way many individuals are nonetheless struggling,” she defined. “Meals poverty was actually within the public consciousness throughout Covid, all people was conscious of it, however you do not hear about it a lot now, although the demand has doubled within the final 5 years.”Ms Ranford says there may be nonetheless a stigma connected to getting assist from a foodbank.”Folks really feel embarrassed about it, however the majority of us are solely a pay cheque or two away from needing assist to purchase meals or necessities. “We be sure that individuals know there isn’t any disgrace in it, and the entire function of us is to assist individuals.” To mark 20 years since Gloucester Foodbank opened, a marketing campaign has been launched to boost cash, encourage donations and recruit extra volunteers.