Hundreds of families across Dumbarton and the Vale are facing a bleak Christmas as “horrendous” levels of poverty are robbing them of any festive joy, a charity has warned.

A grim picture of the harsh reality being faced by parents struggling on the breadline has been highlighted by West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare, which is snowed under by requests for help from parents struggling to cope.

Clair Coyle, foodshare charity trustee, told the Reporter: “We have never seen anything like the amount of poverty that people are experiencing.

“It’s horrendous – I cannot find the words to describe it.”

Clair was speaking as the foodshare works flat out to meet a big rise in requests to its toybank.

Clair added: “It is all driven by issues related to Universal Credit (UC), which started to be phased in among local claimants a year ago.

“We saw the difficulties UC was causing people, and we anticipated a big a rise in toybank referrals, and we were right.”

Referrals for children hoping for toys this Christmas are expected to hit 1,000, up from 650 last year, a rise of around 53 per cent.

Clair said: “The amount of poverty is getting worse and worse – I would describe it as disgusting.

“We work closely with support agencies and everybody is saying the same.

“Support workers are telling us some real horror stories.

“People are sitting with no gas or electricity and the cupboards are empty.”

Clair said the six-week wait for claimants to get any money from Universal Credit was driving people to despair.

She added: “They cannot cope with no money so they are having to take advances on their benefits which have to be paid back.

“We have heard of some people having to pay back £100 a month. There is no alternative for them – these are people in dire situations with no savings who are trying to cope at a time when benefits and wages have stayed the same.”

Clair said the foodshare was indebted to the many individuals, groups, churches and schools who had donated to the toybank.

Cash for Kids had donated £5,000 and Farmfoods had given the foodshare 200 vouchers

Union members at Faslane and Coulport are among those supporting the foodshare appeal.

Richie Calder and Andrew Brown from Unite handed £600 worth of vouchers to the charity’s toybank in Dumbarton.

Andrew, Unite’s full-time convener at Faslane and Coulport, said: “We see it as absolutely crucial that support is given to the foodshare who are working flat out to help families this Christmas.

“It’s a big struggle for them, but they are determined to meet the demand and the work they do is absolutely brilliant.

“We are proud to make this donation, but at the same time, feel ashamed that the need for such help actually exists.

“Even the level of in-work poverty is absolutely deplorable.

“The foodshare is best placed to decide how to use the vouchers, but they were donated on the premise that perhaps they could be given to young adolescents who are sometimes forgotten about.”

Foodshares in Helensburgh and Inverclyde have also received cash support from the Unite members.

Adele Tonner, project co-ordinator at the foodshare, thanked the union members for their support.

She added: “The demand for help from families is definitely up. It started with Universal Credit, and as December is a hard month for families anyway, we are working hard to meet the demand.”

Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton MSP, who was present as the vouchers were handed over, said she was always struck by the generosity of local people.

She added: “I am always struck by the generosity of local people. And That spirit of generosity was on display when the Unite shop stewards from Faslane and Coulport donated £600 towards West Dunbartonshire Foodshare for this year’s Christmas toy appeal.

“It is a sad fact that poverty is on the increase and this year the toybank has had referrals for over 1,000 children, around a 50 per cent increase on the numbers for last year.

“There was only one foodbank in the whole of the UK until the Tories got into power in 2010, and I fear that with the return of a Tory UK Government, poverty and hardship will rise.

“It is however humbling to see how our local community pull together to make sure that no child will be wanting at Christmas.”

“My thanks go to the staff and volunteers at West Dunbartonshire Foodshare for all their work and to people in our local community who always give so generously.”

Ms Baillie thanked the staff and volunteers at the foodshare and the people in the community who always give so generously.

Details about the foodshare’s distribution points are given on the group’s Facebook page.