One woman who knows the importance of food banks is Ghislane Kennedy, after falling on hard times herself, Ghislaine relied on the kindness of others and now volunteers at Food For Thought in St Augustine’s Church.

She said: “I’ve been doing this for nearly four years and demand is growing. I’ve seen people in some terrible situations working here.

“A girl who comes here with her five children, one of them has cancer, her benefits have been sanctioned and she’s in desperation. She’s embarrassed to come to a foodbank, but she has no choice. I recently spoke to a girl who works for the police, she’s on leave and can’t make ends meet and found herself here. I deal with people crying every single day.” A mum herself, Ghislane says she empathises with everyone she helps: “Its hard not to get frustrated, these poor people with nowhere to turn, working people who can’t even feed their families. Benefit caps, benefit sanctions and the Bedroom Tax, the poor are constantly punished.” Food For Thought is now on call 24/7 to help people in emergencies.

Ghislane added: “I was once phoned at 2am after someone had put an appeal on Facebook that a little girl in Haldane hadn’t eaten in a few days. We had some food in the church and I took it to the house in the middle of the night. If someone’s hungry they’re hungry.

We have counsellors, and people from citizen’s advice here to make sure people have someone to talk to if they need help or advice.”