Doncaster food bank services were accessed at triple the normal rate during the height of the pandemic

Sandra Edwards is the project manager at Doncaster Food Bank.

She says the last four months have been very busy for the service.

“During the height of the pandemic we saw triple the number of people coming to the food bank than we would normally see,” she said.

“It really hit a turning point during Easter before any of the government measures had come into place to help people.

“We help people that are in crisis and oftentimes they come to be in that position suddenly.”

Sandra says levels have returned to normal during the last month due to the government introducing mortgage freezes and credit card holidays.

But they are getting ready for when those services come to an end and people may be looking towards food banks again.

Sandra said: “We are expecting a high number of redundancies when the furlough scheme ends.

“And if there is a second wave of the virus this Winter we will be expecting demand to increase.

“We are in a good position to handle any of these scenarios.

“We’re well stocked and have received a lot of donations both of food and money throughout the pandemic.”

One area that the food bank is looking for help with is their volunteers.

As many of their current volunteers are over 65 they have been shielding throughout lockdown.

Meaning the whole food bank service has been operating with only seven volunteers plus Sandra who has been working 12 hours a day to keep up with demand.

“We want to encourage anyone who is interested to enquire if you have experience and the skills to be a volunteer,” she said.

“We have roles available for September and there is no age limit to volunteer.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer for the food bank can call 07568 247 288 for more information.

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