Two Highland MSPs have turned their constituency officers into food bank drop off points to meet the growing demand for food parcels in the region.
The constituency office of Kate Forbes MSP and Maree Todd MSP, situated prominently on Dingwall High Street, will now welcome donations of non-perishable items such as packets of rice, long-life fruit juice, oatcakes and jars of coffee.
The move comes as research by the charity indicated that 40 children in the town had received help the food bank from January until June this year; a rise from the 26 children using it in 2017.
Kate Forbes MSP said: “When we saw the recent plea for food bank donations, we thought this was something we could do to help.
“For the first six months of the year, 40 children have received food parcels from the Dingwall food bank, which is more than a 50 per cent increase on the previous year (26). This is deeply concerning.
“It’s a sign of the times that people are dependent on food donations in a rich country – and an indictment on welfare reform which has left people with no other choices.”
The pair has teamed up with Blythswood Care, who run the Highland food bank network.
Maree Todd MSP added: “I am of course glad that myself and Kate Forbes MSP can do something to help by providing a foodbank drop-off point at our office, but I am heart sore it’s even necessary.
“Folk, many of whom are working, are being driven into destitution and families are being left with no choice but to rely on foodbanks.
“These are political choices and its high time those in power in Westminster took responsibility for the unnecessary suffering they are causing to folk in the Highlands, and indeed across the UK.”