December Salisbury Foodbank's busiest ever month as demand soars
Almost half of people supported over Christmas were children
Salisbury Foodbank experienced it's busiest ever month in December 2023 as demand rose a third compared to November.
Hundreds of emergency food parcels were handed out by the charity over Christmas, on top of 200 Christmas hampers.
The charity held a pre-Christmas collection at Tesco in Salisbury and in Amesbury, which resulted in what Foodbank Manager Maria Stevenson called their 'biggest collection in a very long time'.
"The public have responded to our demand, as they always do, they're really gracious in supporting us," Maria told Greatest Hits Radio.
The Christmas hampers that volunteers at the Foodbank were able to pack, supported around 830 people, with over 900 being helped with an emergency food parcel.
That marginally surpasses 2022's figures where just under 900 people were supported with emergency parcels.
More first time users as half of those supported are children
Shockingly, almost half of the people supported by the foodbank over Christmas were children.
Maria says she wishes foodbanks didn't need to exist.
"We wish that there was enough money in the pockets of people to provide for themselves and their family," she said.
"It's always heart breaking in the run up to Christmas knowing that families are out there, worried that they cant provide for their children.
"We don't want anyone to go hungry."
Still crisis support rather than long-term solution
The Foodbank are also seeing an increasing number of first-time users.
"Each month I've been tracking across 2023, we are picking up about 70 new people each month that have never been to the foodbank before," Maria said.
She added that she's expecting to see more of the same in January.
Despite supporting a record 8393 people across 2023, the charity remains crisis support, rather than a long-term solution to food insecurity.