MORE people are relying on help from Basingstoke’s foodbank as the cost of living crisis hits hard. 

The charity has reported that it has seen an influx of users this year. This comes as people struggle to pay their bills as energy prices soar and the country sees its highest levels of inflation for 40 years.

Chairman Phil Thomas said the foodbank has seen a rise in the number of users, with twice as many users now than before the pandemic.

He said: “I am sure as the autumn and winter kick in, we will see more, a yet bigger rise in our numbers.” 

SEE ALSO: Rats chew through wires and crawl through cavities as residents left in nightmare homes

You can read the full story in this week’s edition of the Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • Residents who live in a rat-infested block of flats say they are angry and upset after being left to live in a “nightmare”
  • A group of friends walked 39 miles in memory of a former Gazette sports reporter who died aged 39 of bowel cancer
  • The ambulance service that serves Hampshire has been rated ‘inadequate’ by health watchdogs
  • Basingstoke's MP and campaigners are calling on the borough council to put an end to ‘unsustainable development’ in the forthcoming local plan update
  • A popular Basingstoke cafe is to close after three years as a result of the war in Ukraine
  • A pet cat has had to have its eye surgically removed after it was injured
  • Action by a Basingstoke resident and a Hampshire county councillor has stopped a grade 2 listed milestone from being destroyed by a golf course development
  • A former councillor is calling on the county council to build a bridge to allow future Manydown residents to safely access the development’s proposed senior school. 
  • PLUS: All the latest from Basingstoke Magistrates' Court
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor
  • Pictures: GCSE results day in Basingstoke as students celebrate plus lots of photos from CareFest South 2022
  • Two pages of news from our communities
  • An eight-page puzzle special
  • Two pages of business news
  • Three pages of entertainment news
  • Three pages of sports news. And much more!

READ MORE: Man left hospitalised after being hit several times with a glass or bottle outside nightclub

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