EVERY Thursday, volunteers at Windsor Foodshare work hard to get all the items together ready for their clients to collect.
Based at Dedworth Green Baptist Church, on Smiths Lane, the food bank supports a range of vulnerable people from individuals to families who are struggling to survive on Universal Credit.
We are currently in a cost of living crisis, where energy prices are soaring, food prices are going up and inflation level the highest it’s been in a long time.
And Windsor Foodshare has already seen more demand in people needing support, currently feeding over 100 people each week.
I spent the afternoon speaking to volunteers who give up their time to help out and also people relying on the food bank just to get by.
And one of those people is Karen, who has been coming to Windsor Foodshare for around four months.
She said it has been a “godsend” for her.
She said: “I’m on my own and I’ve got four dogs, so I would literally be scratching around because I need to feed my animals.
“But the food bank has been amazing and everyone here does a really good job.”
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But although Windsor Foodshare is helping Karen get food, she expressed her concerns on the cost of living crisis.
She said: “I’ve only got my pension to live on and what worries me now is that everything is going to go up and I just don’t know how I’m going to manage.”
Each week, the food bank sees queues of people, who have been referred, ready to collect their non-perishable items.
The amount of people Windsor Foodshare has supported has almost doubled each year.
In the year of 2019/20, it helped 2,457 individuals which then increased to 4,039 in 2020/21.
It confirmed this worked out its feeding average was around 70 families per week.
And for 2021/2022, it provided food parcels for 6,156 individuals.
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Sarah Kember, manager of Windsor Foodshare, said the demand has grown massively.
She said: “Fortunately there is a budget at the minute where people can be given help with their heating but that’s still not enough.
“So, they need more help, they still come to us for their food, and we love volunteering our time here because we know we’re helping these people to be able to eat on a day-to-day basis and it fills your heart a bit knowing that you’re doing that."
“I wouldn’t want to spend my day any other way on a Thursday, the volunteers who give up their time are amazing and I can’t thank them and the donators enough.”
Ms Kember added people are getting worried as prices are increasing.
She said: “It’s the everyday things that have gone up so it’s affecting everybody, I been speaking to some of our clients and the overwhelming question they ask is how are they going to cope."
Another client who's been coming to Windsor Foodshare for around a year is Mandy.
She said she wouldn't be able to live without the help of the food bank.
"It's helped me so much," she said.
"People are so generous here, there's no judgement.
"The first time I came here I remember feeling so ashamed but they make you feel so at ease."
Also voicing her concerns about the cost of living crisis, Mandy added she hopes the Government steps in and does something to support those in need.
Volunteer Angela Subramaniam, 51, who has been helping at the food bank since November 2020, said she’s expecting things to get busier with prices going up.
“I think what we do here is just going to be that much more important,” she said.
“A lot of people are going to be dependant on us and we’re going to do our best to help as many families as we can.”
Windsor Foodshare is always looking for more volunteers in the community to help its service each week.
It accepts food donations at Dedworth Green Baptist Chuch from 9am to 1.30pm on Wednesdays and 9am to 3pm on Thursdays.
Donation boxes are also located at Tesco, on Dedworth Road, Waitrose, at King Edward Court and Co-op, on St Luke’s Road, Old Windsor.
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