This is the upsetting sight of what a food bank in south Wales looked like as it found itself almost running out of food.
Despite the dedicated efforts of the local community and hardworking volunteers, The Parish Trust in Heol Yr Ysgol, Caerphilly found itself having to close its doors to the community on its regular Bag A Bargain evening as it had almost bare shelves and empty tables. Quite simply, the amount of donations it had received weren't enough to match demand for food parcels or bargain items required by members of the community.
As the cost of living crisis takes grip on people's lives, millions are drastically cutting back on their shopping or are having to turn to charities or food banks. But at the same time, fewer people are in a financial position to be able to donate to foodbanks or, if they can donate, have had to cut-back on the amount they can donate each week or month.
With this in mind, food banks across south Wales are urgently appealing for the public to donate food and toiletries to their local foodbank - even if it's just one or two items that someone can spare.
Founder and chair of trustees at The Parish Trust, which operates a food parcel delivery service and supports hundreds of people in the Caerphilly area, Reverend Dean Roberts said the group is desperate for donations.
"We're seeing the need - not just for food but also for emotional support - really increase. It's the straw that's breaking the camel's back," he said. "People have had Covid, then furlough, then redundancies and now the cost of living crisis - so we're really seeing demand going up across the board. We're seeing a lot of families coming through, even with the Free School Meals scheme in schools offered by Caerphilly Council."
"Whilst some people might donate food to us, they're donating less than they used to," he added. "We particularly need anything tinned, instant food, pasta, rice, pasta sauce. We also really need cereal, and things like chocolate and biscuits too."
Although the Trust, cannot take fresh or frozen food, due to food hygiene regulations, it can accept tinned items, cupboard items such as rice and pasta, and long-life food - and volunteers say they need "anything and everything". One team member told said: "We are finding we are getting more response from people who need things, but people can't afford to donate - it's really hard at the moment."
'We have to feed 27 people with five tins of beans'
In a video on the Trust's Facebook page, another volunteer painted an even sadder picture of the situation. Showing bare shelves in the Trust's community building, he explained that 27 people were relying on donations from them on one day last week - but all the they had was "five tins of beans". "It's very upsetting," the volunteer said. "It's really hard, I hate to see people struggling."
Following the video, the Trust received several donations from generous members of the community - but still needs further donations to help meet demand. The Trust's latest impact report, which reflects on the number of people who used the food parcel delivery scheme during the month of May, further confirms there's been a "significant rise in service users" as a result of "ongoing cost of living rises". The report outlined that the number of parcels the Trust sent out in May was 160, a 23% increase on the month of April, and confirmed 449 people were fed from the items, an increase of 27% on April.
How can I support the foodbank?
The Parish Trust would love to have new volunteers join their team, to find out more about this go here. If you'd like to give a financial donation to the Trust, you can do that here and if you have items you'd like to donate for the food parcels, you can contact the Trust via Facebook here
The Parish Trust has also launched a new campaign entitled Feed a Fiver. People are being asked to donate just £5 per month to the Trust to be spent on food and toiletries for people who need them and for fuel for the vans used to deliver the food parcels. Go here to read more about the scheme.
I need help, how can I get help from The Parish Trust?
The Parish Trust offers food parcels via delivery. If you'd like one, call the trust on 02921 880 212 (phone lines are open 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday) to book your food parcel, or fill in the online form.
Deliveries are made between 4pm to 8pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
'I've always said: if you can only give one can, that's still one can'
Pontarddulais Area Food Bank, in Swansea, has also seen an increase in the number of people relying on the food bank for support but a decrease in the amount of items people in the community can afford to donate. The food bank's manager, Catherine Evans is appealing to the public to donate any items they can to support people in need - even if it's just one packet or one can that someone can afford to give.
She said: "We are finding the same issues [as other foodbanks] - more people need donations but less people are donating, especially older people in the community: we used to see people bring in things quite regularly but they can't always afford to now. But I've always said: 'if you can only give one can, that's still one can - it does help."
The Pontarddulais Area Food Bank was set up in February 2019 in response to the number of people visiting the community centre asking for help putting food on the table. Very quickly, the food bank grew from just a few items to filling a room in the community centre - but donations have decreased as the Cost of Living Crisis has caused people's bills to spiral.
"We receive 50% of our items via donations and 50% is paid for by grant funding from the Swansea Council Food Poverty fund and the Welsh Government Food Poverty fund," Catherine said. "But we are finding we need to go out to buy more [as we don't have enough in the Food Bank]. It's terrible, people just can't make ends meet and we're in a bit of a lull."
Pontarddulais Area Food Bank has plenty of rice and pasta at the moment as many people stockpiled during the pandemic and now have extras they have donated to the foodbank, Catherine said, but the food bank needs everything else. Whilst it's unable to accept fresh or frozen food, again due to food hygiene regulations, it does receive fresh food for its service users via the FairShare initiative and is dire need of non-perishable goods.
Catherine explained: "We can't take fresh food or frozen food, but we do get fresh food from FairShare for people. We also have a living wall, so we can give people herbs! But we need everything else. We need anything non-perishable, particularly long-life milk. We've got lots of pasta and rice and tinned tomatoes, but we're running out of milk, squash, juice, non-perishable foods and toiletries."
How can I support the foodbank?
Pontarddulais Area Food Bank is keen to receive donations of non-perishable items, particularly long-life milk, juice and squash, as well as toiletries. You can contact the Food Bank via social media here to arrange to bring your donations. Alternatively, you can give a financial donation to the Food Bank via bank transfer to the following account: Pontarddulais Area Food Bank, sort code: 20-51-32, account number: 93000087.
Sharing this information on social media, volunteers said: "We are grateful for all your donations whether they be food or cash and without your help and support we wouldn't be able to continue. Let's work together to alleviate food poverty in our local area."
I need help, how can I get help from Pontarddulais Area Food Bank?
Pontarddulais Area Food Bank is open to all and is based in a small community centre on Dulais Road in Pontarddulais, Swansea.
The foodbank is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12pm to 4pm - but volunteers are always at the community centre, should there be an emergency. You can contact the foodbank by phone on 01792 88 55 32.
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