To be honest, I find it shocking that in a country like ours, some people are forced to depend on food banks. As the staff and volunteers explained when I visited, people use the food bank for all sorts of reasons – including people in paid work who simply aren’t paid enough to survive.

The food bank also plays a key role in connecting people with other sorts of help. No-one in our community should have to rely on a food bank – but while, sadly, too many people struggle to make ends meet, I’m so glad we have caring and compassionate people like those helping out at Bromyard Food Bank.

Services like this depend on the Household Support Fund, which the Government threatened to cut in March. There’s been a brief reprieve for six months – but currently it looks like the funding will stop in September – just as the fuel bills start to kick in. Services like food banks, relied on by those who are most vulnerable, need more secure funding. I’ve spoken out about this locally, and successfully campaigned for the council to write to the Chancellor calling for long-term secure funding for vital local services!