For more than a decade the food bank at our Church has given out thousands and thousands of pounds of food to local people disadvantaged through all sorts of different circumstances.
Starting out primarily as a debt relief project the ethos has morphed to include crisis help, especially for people who are caught before their benefits starts to kick in.
All kinds of agencies refer people to us, and we give them enough food for a week.
As food has got more expensive so the food parcels have got more expensive and yet the work still grows, and in this economic climate we can only see it continuing in one direction. 20-30 people a week get around £30 of groceries.
For years it was called "Basics bank" but now we have changed the name to make it easier for people to find and understand what it is.
www.shrewsburyfoodbank.org
A couple of years ago the guy who set it up won a "Pride of Shropshire" award from the local newspaper / council for services to the community.
There is a big bin at the back of our main hall and people bring donations of food every Sunday. We receive all sorts of stuff from Harvest Festivals at other Churches. We go to supermarkets and ask for donations.
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" jumps out of my Bible and this project gives me a way to live it out.
