Renfrewshire Foodbank introduces evening service to help more people

In our newspaper editions on Wednesday, November 27, recyclable paper bags will be placed inside every copy as part of our Bank on Us campaign.

These bags can be filled with non-perishable food items and handed into your local food bank.

As part of the campaign, we are speaking with our sponsors as well as those in charge of running the food banks in our area. 

Julie Edmiston, assistant manager at Renfrewshire Foodbank, left, and Crystal Clayton, senior manager, right (Image: Newsquest) One such organisation is Renfrewshire Foodbank which has had to introduce an evening distribution once a week to meet the demand of some of the people who are working and cannot access the service during working hours.

Crystal Clayton, senior manager, said: “We’ve got an array of people from all ages, backgrounds and circumstances who are struggling and I think that (our evening distribution) showcases that everyone is struggling at the moment and will continue to do so until something changes.”

During the last week in October into November alone, the food bank issued 290 food parcels.

By the end of this year, it is projected that they will have fed more than 11,000 people across Renfrewshire, which is a 5% increase on last year.

“In the grand scheme of things, one person having to access emergency food is too much never mind 11,000,” added Crystal.

“The cost-of-living crisis is still here. Rising energy bills are still here, as well as supermarket prices.

"There's been a push for the national living wage to be increased, but the social security system is not moving in line with that, and people just genuinely don't have money to cover the essential costs.

“There's a lot of people who would have just been able to get by this winter and now can’t.

"There will be people sitting in the house with next to no food and no hot water or no heating which is a horrible thing.

“We're in a progressive society, but we're still finding absolute poverty.”

The knock-on effect of this situation is that there have also been fewer people able to give donations to the food bank.

“Over the last maybe about six months the donations have been really slow,” explained Crystal.

“We saw a big drop in donations prior to the harvest festival that has been taking place over the last couple of months and has put us in a good stead for the next couple of months, but prior to that we were having to purchase most of our stock because we just weren’t getting the stock in to meet the demand. 

“Donations are vital to keep the service running as effectively as it can and to make sure that people in Renfrewshire have access to emergency food provision.”

Some of their current most needed items are tinned fruit and vegetables, tinned meat and fish, UHT milk, diluting juice, pet food, tinned potatoes, tinned beans, tinned custard and rice and cleaning products.

The food bank, which has more than 100 volunteers and three members of staff, has a warehouse and office space in Renfrew and three distribution centres across Renfrewshire.

The Paisley Distribution Centre is located at the Central Baptist Church on Lady Lane.

The Johnstone Distribution Centre is located at St Paul's Church on Quarrelton Road.

The Renfrew Distribution Centre is located at Renfrew Baptist Church on Paisley Road.

To see the full listing of opening hours for each location visit renfrewshire.foodbank.org.uk/locations/.

As well as the food drive, the Renfrewshire Gazette and Barrhead News will be raising money for our Bank on Us toy drive via GoFundMe.

All donations received through the campaign will be used to buy new toys and handed out to charities to distribute to vulnerable children to open on Christmas morning.

To donate, click HERE. 

Stacey Mullen, editor of the Renfrewshire Gazette and Barrhead News, said: "We’re hopeful all of our readers will get involved.

“It’s been another difficult year, and we want to do all we can to help struggling families have a merry Christmas, so we are delighted the bags will soon be in the papers.

“We’re truly grateful to anyone who is able to donate.”

The Bank on Us 2024 campaign is proudly sponsored by Allied Vehicles, Arnold Clark, Smyths Toys Superstores, SPAR Scotland, Stagecoach, StepChange, Storage Vault and Wise Group.