FOOD bank demand in the Stroud district has risen again, echoing the trend in Gloucestershire.
Figures released by the Trussell Trust, which runs the food banks, show that 4,111 people required three-day food supplies packages in the Stroud district in 2015/16.
This is up by almost two per cent from 4,035 in 2014/15.
In 2015/16, the food banks in Stroud centre fed 1,393 people: Stonehouse 545, Dursley 367, Wotton-under-Edge 249 and Nailsworth 96.
The remaining 1,461 people were fed through delivery or partner organisations including the Salvation Army.
Countywide, 18,857 used the food banks run by the Trussell Trust in the last year.
Delays and changes to benefits remain the number one cause of food bank use, accounting for 41 per cent of all referrals in the South West.
Stroud District Food Bank project manager Will Mansell (pictured) said that more needed to be done to tackle the "significant problem".
He said: “The end of year figures for the Stroud district show that people are in the same place as last year.
“Even with the decrease in unemployment we are still seeing the same level of food bank usage in line with the national trends.
“We need to keep working to help people living in food insecurity and mustn’t let other concerns crowd out this significant problem.
“Stroud District Food Bank is providing a lifeline to those in dire need and we need the whole community to help us.”
Low income has risen as a referral cause from 24 per cent to 25 per cent in the South West.
According to a recent survey, 96 per cent of Trussell Trust food banks now offer additional services, such as legal advice, clothing banks, housing support and welfare advice.
Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of foodbanks partner with local charities and agencies in their community to provide these services.
The Stroud Foodbank, which runs centres in Stroud, Stonehouse, Nailsworth, Dursley and Wotton under Edge, has now moved to a larger premises in Brimscombe Port.
To volunteer call 01453 367077 or visit www.strouddistrict.foodbank.org.uk
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