FOODBANK leaders and volunteers across the county have raised concerns over what appears to be 'a perfect storm' of -demand increases and supply shortages - as the cost of living crisis grips Cumbria.

Foodbanks across the county have been finding increasing demand for their services, but say that in some areas supply is drying up - due to suppliers not having the surplus stock.

The Salvation Army Foodbank, in Penrith, has in the past used financial donations to fully stock the foodbank and is appealing for support in order to meet the demand as the cost of living crisis begins to bite.

It comes as the centre saw 1,211 referrals in the month of April alone, around the time the energy price cap rocketed around the country.

READ MORE: Cumbria Food bank shelves becoming bare as cost-of-living crisis worsens

Major Carole Donaldson, joint church leader of the Salvation Army in Penrith said: “Sadly, we’re seeing more and more people come to us for help as the cost-of-living crisis deepens and some are barely able to meet their essential needs each month like food.

“We are seeing extraordinary demand and our foodbank shelves are running low on supplies as donations have dipped as everyone feels the pinch."

And the picture seems to be a similar one throughout the county. Lisa Brown, Cumberland Shadow Authority deputy leader and co-founder of the Affordable Food Hub in Carlisle has said that the county is facing 'a perfect storm' when it comes to people accessing the services needed amidst the cost of living crisis.

Cllr Brown said: "It is so difficult because we have got so many people coming to us for help and we worry that there is going to be a point in the near future where we just have to shut down all together because we just can't keep up with demand.

"Even though we do affordable food were massively discounting what people would be buying from supermarkets, the money has got to come from somewhere, the governments giving it in small pots like winter houseold funds and things like that but it's not sustainable in the long term.

"People can no longer afford to give donations because they are growing increasingly in need of the services now, which is just utterly shocking.

"It's the perfect storm, because eventually the need will outweigh what we can actually provide for people. There are things like you can collect food from supermarkets at the end of the day, but it's all out-of-date stuff, you can only pick it up at night time.

"We are massively grateful, because it is still food that we can give away, but it's just not covering the demand."

It is understood that the Carlisle Foodbank was last year seeking extra space to receive donations due to the volume they were receiving.

But this week, the centre suggested they would no longer be needing the additional space, due to supplies and donations greatly decreasing.

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Chair of the Carlisle Foodbank, Niall Mcnulty said: "This past month we have seen the highest need for the foodbanks services for a number of years. We have had over 440 referrals in May for food parcels, which has been increasing every month.

"It's worth remembering that the referrals are from statutory and voluntary organisations who work with people who are needing additional support for varying reasons, and being able to access a food parcel makes a huge difference.

"We are very much a voluntary organisation ourselves and rely on a great team of volunteers and the support of the general public with donations of food items that all get used by communities in Carlisle."

This week, it has been announced that Cumbria County Council’s cabinet has approved £2million worth of additional funding in response to the cost-of-living crisis to support individuals and families experiencing financial difficulty.

£500,000 will be used for Direct Community Support; this will be to further support people in urgent need.

It is understood this will partly be achieved by bulk-purchasing food to fill a shortfall in food bank donations, as rising expenses hit more and more people who would have been able, previously, to buy extras during their weekly shop to support food banks.

Funds will also be allocated to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) to enable them to directly allocate emergency funding to individuals in crisis.

Additional funds from the £2million budget will go towards the county council's welfare budget which is used to give support to people most in need, as well as free school meals and school clothing grants across the county.

READ MORE: Public urged to take advantage of £2m cost-of-living pot

Councillor Stewart Young, leader of Cumbria County Council, said: “The cost-of-living crisis is having a real impact on so many families and we are committed to helping those who are really struggling right now.

"That’s why we’ve allocated as much money as we can, to be available immediately, to support those who need it most, despite cuts to our budget.

“If you’re struggling to pay your bills, buy food or are in urgent financial need - I urge you to take advantage of the additional funding we’re providing as part of the Cost-of-Living Reserve fund."

Some foodbank providers fear that rises in fuel costs as well as food shortages across the country may also have a detrimental effect on their services - with some facing weeks where suppliers are unable to get produce to them, due to lack of 'stock'.

Jacinta Clark, food pantry co-ordinater at the St Cuthbert's Wigton Food Pantry, has also noticed issues. The pantry receives food on a weekly basis from national charity FareShare - which is then passed on to service users for a small donation.

She said: "We have noticed an increase in footfall coming through, our donations there holding their own- but the problem is the supply chain. Last week FareShare couldn't provide us with anything at all."

Jacinta said that volunteers had to go into supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco last week, buying food to stock the shelves in the pantry from the food pantrys funds - spending nearly £400 from the budget.

She also said the surplus stock coming from supermarkets are 'luxury items' such as pringles and pot noodles - that she believes people may no longer be able to afford as part of their weekly shop. However, people can't use these products to make family meals.

Talking about the effects these issues are having on the food pantry and it's service users, Jacinta said: "Our numbers have increased. We are now having to say to people can you please make sure you only take one (of a product) because we haven't got the supply.

"More people than ever are using us as a service, we are now starting to think about things for young families, because it now seems to be families with young children, not just older people or people coming to try and support us.

"We are getting lots of people that have never used us before with young kids who are maybe under school age that are needing to think: 'how can we make our money go further?'

"Where we used to get a lot of notes in our collection, we are getting a lot of change because people can't afford to go into supermarkets."

The co-ordinator also said that the pantry has set up a coffee morning for people in the town and are starting to think about soup kitchens to help service users get a hot meal.

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