A FOODBANK wants to thank the community for their support during the coronavirus pandemic.

Peter Buchanan, chairman of trustees for the Malvern Hills Foodbank, said: "We remain indebted to individuals and organisations around Malvern for the support they give us.

"We are also grateful to Community Action who act as our delivery service.

"Over the past two years the numbers using our foodbank have more than doubled, but the generosity of supporters has matched this increase."

As winter approaches and during the current tightening of lockdown, the foodbank will continue to support the homeless in Malvern who are particularly vulnerable at this time of year.

Mr Buchanan added: "During the current lockdown, Malvern Hills Foodbank will continue to meet the needs of the people in crisis in our society.

"We will carry on providing food parcels to those who are referred to us from our local agencies.

"We recognise that food is not the only essential, so as colder weather approaches, we will also be able to provide fuel top up payments thanks to a government grant passed on to us by Malvern Hills District Council.

"There is no doubt that the coming weeks will see an increase in individuals and families who will find life more difficult , so we may be needed to help them in the coming weeks until their benefits are available.

"During this present lockdown, we are hoping that our primarily retired volunteers will still be able to work in the foodbank premises. With "Christmas on the horizon, we will be providing the essentials to our clients, but hope to include some extra treats.

"We shall also be supporting the various groups with whom we liaise, who are able to make up specific Christmas boxes.

"As we seek to meet immediate needs, we will ensure that clients also get the help they need so that they don’t require our services beyond the short term. We were able to signpost clients to appropriate agencies when we could meet them face to face. Now that we are operating a delivery service, this aspect has become much harder."

For more information or to find out more about how you can help the foodbank, go to malvernhills.foodbank.org.uk/