Teachers, doctors surgery staff and hospital workers have been forced to visit foodbanks in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as more and more families find themselves in crisis.

Significant demand is being placed on the foodbanks in the BCP area, with some facilities reporting double the visits compared to last year.

Last week, the Trussell Trust issued a stark warning after new research showed record-breaking levels of need, with one in five individuals referred to its network now coming from working households.

Need is now exceeding donations for the first time in the charity’s history.

Read more: Foodbanks facing 'shocking' poverty levels in BCP

A significant increase in the number of working people coming through the doors has also been reported, as the cost of living crisis takes hold.

Representatives from across the conurbation have described the situation in their local area.

POOLE

Faithworks supports food banks in Poole, Christchurch, Wimborne and Blandford.

Alistair Doxat-Purser, CEO at Faithworks says demand across their services was up 42 per cent in the last three months, compared to the same time last year.

He said: “Whereas in the past the majority of people were coming because of a one-off crisis, we are seeing more and more people needing longer term support.

“We are grateful for the support of local people who are continuing to provide food and we are big fans of the BanktheFood app which flags up to people what their local food bank needs as they go into a supermarket.”

Poole Waste Not Want Not works with a food bank and suppliers within the community to offer food at a discounted price.

Erika Sloper, charity project manager said the demand for their service is growing at a worrying rate.

She said: “In October alone we signed up 38 new households. The rise in energy prices is impacting families who work full-time and now struggle to afford food.

A service user told Erika: “Both my husband and I work full-time and are generally in a comfortable financial position, but over the last three months we have had to rely on our credit cards to buy food.

"I feel so ashamed to be asking for support but for the first time in my life my budget has become so stretched.

"I have maxed my credit card to the limit which has put me in a worse position.

“I am so very grateful for the support and not making me feel worthless, knowing I can feed my family tonight has reduced my anxiety and the black hole I have been in, is seeing a light.”

Read more: The alarming pressures on Dorset food banks this winter

BOURNEMOUTH

Bournemouth Foodbank has seen a 43 per cent increase in its use in the last six months. The need for emergency food has exceeded donations at a rate difficult to keep up with. And a drop in food donations has forced the food bank to spend more than £30K on food this year alone. This is more than a 700 per cent increase compared to last year's period. We see a clear correlation between the rising cost of living and the drastic increase in food bank use. 

Debbie Coombes, Bournemouth Foodbank's project director, said: "I'm outraged that food banks are needed in this day and age. I believe it's everyone's right to be able to feed themselves and their families.

"We at Bournemouth Foodbank will continue to work towards a future where people can afford their basic needs and food banks are no longer needed. ​We constantly need food items like UHT milk, tinned meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, and long-life fruit juice."

Hope for Food is a Bournemouth charity helping people who are struggling to afford basic essentials.

Mary Duncan, operations manager at Hope for Food said the charity has seen an increase in referrals over the last six months and they believe about 40 per cent of the people who collect food parcels from their unit are working.

Mary said: “We are supporting about 170 families per week with food parcels. We have also seen a reduction in food donations from the general public but are lucky to have some support from local businesses.

“Every month we need to buy staple non perishable tinned/packet food items to keep our shelves filled and will continue to do so whilst we have the funds available.

“The latter part of the year has proved to be the most challenging we have and with the cost of living crisis expected to continue into next year we expect to see demand continue to increase.”

CHRISTCHURCH

Christchurch Food Bank+ provides emergency food along with skills and tools to help people through the cost of living crisis.

Tracy Blick, manager of Christchurch Foodbank+ said they have had their busiest summer since opening, this year and they are predicting an even busier Christmas.

She said: “We have noticed an increase in working families and individuals using our projects.

“On Saturday we opened the foodbank up for a dad who works full time and his wife has three jobs to work around child care needs.

“Over the past 2 months we have had hospital and GP surgery staff and 9 teachers and school staff needing to use our Foodbank+.

“We are here to help everyone but this makes me really sad.

“I feel things are only going to get harder. More than ever the saying 'together we can do this' could not be more true."

For more information on organisations helping with food poverty visit BCP Council’s ‘Access to Food Map’: https://bcpaccesstofoodmap.v88.co.uk