A CHARITY which has fed thousands of people in crisis in Basingstoke is marking its fourth anniversary.

Basingstoke’s Foodbank launched in 2012 and each year since then has fed around 3,000 people in the town, including 800 children.

Phil Thomas, chair of the Foodbank trustees, said: “This is a massive achievement and a reflection of the fantastic work done by a dedicated group of volunteers from churches and the community across Basingstoke. The whole community of Basingstoke and Deane generously provide crisis food for some of the neediest people in our town.”

The Foodbank, based in Sarum Hill, near the town centre, provides a supply of food to anyone in crisis who is referred by one of nearly 80 agency teams across the town.

A referring agency, such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, housing agencies, children’s centres or health visitors, will provide a voucher to use at the Foodbank for emergency supplies to last three days.

During the last four years, 100 tonnes of food has been collected and distributed to more than 10,000 people in need.

And the number of people using the Foodbank is rising, with the main reasons for people needing it being benefit delays, low income and debt.

Volunteers working for the charity also try to help clients identify the root causes that have brought them to needing the Foodbank’s help, and point them to other agencies for further support.

The Basingstoke Foodbank is one of 424 run by the Trussell Trust which, during the last year, gave more than one million emergency three-day food supplies to people in need.

Figures show that nationally there has been a two per cent increase in foodbank use on the previous year.

David McAuley, CEO of the charity, said: “One million three-day food supplies given out by our foodbanks every year is one million too many. This must not become the new normal. We need to listen to the experiences of people facing hunger and poverty, and work to find solutions to this problem together.”