The number of foodbank parcels given to people in crisis in Witney and surrounding villages in the past year has gone up by 42 per cent.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Witney and West Oxfordshire Foodbank supplied emergency food to just under 4,500 adults and 3,350 children in the district.

More people are relying on food banks in West Oxfordshire than they were before the pandemic, new figures from the charity the Trussell Trust show.

In West Oxfordshire, 1,977 emergency food parcels – containing three or seven days' worth of supplies – were handed out by the Trussell Trust between April and September.

This was up from 1,318 during the same period in 2019, but below the 2,152 handed out last year.

Though below the record 1.3 million dispensed during this period last year, it was 11 per cent more than in 2019.

Chair of the Witney and West Oxfordshire Foodbank Mick Morris said: "It's very busy, and we thought last year was busy. A lot of people come to us just once, others once a fortnight or a little bit more frequently.

"A common misconception is, why on earth does a place like Witney or West Oxfordshire need a foodbank. But once you scratch the surface nothing is as it seems. Some of the estates are very deprived."

He said he saw a wide range of people struggling without enough money for the essentials.

"We see people from all walks of life. If someone is having a crisis and literally has no money for food then it really is a bad state of affairs.

"A lot of clients are working but they are on the minimum wage. They are only one pay cheque away from being in trouble. A lot of people we deal with if something goes wrong with the boiler, or the car, they don’t have that cushion.

"If they are on benefits, it could be that the benefits system has not caught up with them. Add to this the loss of the £20 Universal Credit and rising fuel costs, and it's a perfect storm for people who are already struggling really badly.

"These are impossible choices people are facing – do I heat the house this week or do I feed the kids?"

He said the idea that foodbanks were 'for scroungers' was a total misunderstanding.

"You can only come if you’ve been referred by a GP, teacher, social worker, church or addiction support professionals – a lot of people don’t understand that. Our foodbank works with a number of different agencies, including West Oxfordshire District Council.

"The foodbank is only expected to provide around six parcels in total to each referral as clients are also signposted to other agencies for further support. If their situation hasn’t improved foodbank assistance will still continue.

"We are a frontline service. We have victims of domestic abuse who have literally had to leave with the shirt on their back, health issues, alcohol addiction."

Mick, who is also the vice-president of a US video game company, got involved after he became angered by the the size of food parcels going to the poorest pupils while schools were in lockdown which were widely criticised.

“I thought, why don’t I just get off my backside. And so I started volunteering at the foodbank. Now I’ve taken the chair and I absolutely love it. There’s an incredible board of trustees who are all good people."

The bank has 45 volunteers who weigh, store and label the items. Witney Rotarians offer drivers to deliver parcels to people unable to collect for themselves which was particularly helpful during the lockdowns when demand spiked.

They have just received the good news that they have been awarded £250,000 from the Trussell Trust to keep the bank going for the next two years.

The trust runs a network of 428 foodbanks, working to tackle food poverty and hunger in local communities.

Mick said: “The money will also fund some case workers employed by Citizens Advice so when people come to us they can really get help. We can say is it benefits, debt, what are the problems?'

"Looking to the future we all hope for a society where foodbanks aren’t needed at all."

Visit witney.foodbank.org.uk for more details of how you can help.