People across Moray have been urged to donate supplies to a local food bank to help people in crisis.
Local MSP Richard Lochhead – Scotland’s rural affairs secretary – made the appeal yesterday after visiting staff at Tesco in Elgin to highlight food collection activity at the store.
The company works with charity the Trussell Trust which supports individuals and families struggling to cover the cost of basic food items.
Trussell Trust works with Community Food Moray (CFM) which runs a food bank on Batchen Street, Elgin.
Food parcels, which are donated by the public, schools and churches, generally contain enough non-perishable goods, such as tinned fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, pasta, cereal, UHT milk, sauces, tea and long-life juice, to last three days.
The charity helps people from different walks of life – including working families on low incomes, people on benefits, the disabled and the elderly.
CFM, which has handed out 865 food parcels since January, recently revealed they were often made up of cold produce because clients could not even afford to use their cookers, ovens and microwaves.
The charity said many people who needed help had been plunged into debt because of the so-called bedroom tax, benefits sanctions and delays to the payment of crisis loans.
Mr Lochhead said: “The existence of the food bank in Moray is a sad fact of life with the UK Government’s austerity measures and welfare changes hitting the poorest hardest.
“Along with Angus Robertson MP I will continue to argue the case for the reversal of the shocking policies that are causing so much pain for people but while they remain in place we must do what we can to support those affected.
“I would encourage people to donate what they can either at Tesco’s food collection, directly to the food bank in Elgin’s Batchen Street or at the various other food bank collection points around Moray.”
The Trussell Trust said the number of people in Scotland using food banks has soared by 400% in the last 12 months.
It revealed that 26 new facilities were opened in 2013-14 and benefited 71,428 adults and children – up from 14,318 the year before.
Holyrood’s welfare committee has accused the UK Government of being in “denial” about the issue and claimed allowing a “Dickensian model of welfare to take root” was unacceptable.