This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 22 May 2019. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
NUMBERS of people needing help from rural foodbanks has risen sharply, an investigation by the Door has revealed.
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Marcelina Dos Reis at North Oxfordshire Foodbank with her daughter, Nossa Fatima.
Malcolm Bradbrook.
Stark statistics from across the diocese highlight a growing need for emergency food packages from the volunteer-run organisations.
To qualify you must be given a voucher through a body such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau, schools, or hospitals. Wallingford Foodbank in Oxfordshire helped 400 people in 2011 but that figure rose to more than 1,000 last year and is expected to increase again. Chiltern Foodbank has centres in Chesham, Wendover, Amersham, and Little Chalfont, with a fifth centre planned in Chalfont St Peter before Christmas.
The number of meals provided increased from 5,787 in 2011 to 17,739 in 2016 and is predicted to rise to 24,000 this year. Chiltern's co-ordinator, Dave Worrall, said: "Although this is considered to be an affluent area there are real pockets of poverty and there just isn't the flex in people's budgets if a big bill comes in like the need to fix a car. "At West Berkshire Foodbank about 2,000 people were helped last year, a significant reduction from the 3,000 in 2015.
Yet that decrease came about as West Berkshire District Council cut services, which led to the organisations which would normally issue vouchers being unable to do so. A new service called Crisis Foodline was established and 2017 figures are now set to surpass 2015.
The foodbank has centres in Newbury, Thatcham, Lambourn, and Hungerford. Marcelina Dos Reis, 27, moved to England from Portugal in 2014 and had a job working in an Oxford hotel, which also provided accommodation, but had to leave when she became pregnant. Her daughter, Nossa-Fatima, was born eight months ago and they have been regular visitors to North Oxfordshire Foodbank in Kidlington. Marceline added: "Being a single mother is tough but I am lucky.
I have a beautiful, happy daughter, and the church is helping me with this foodbank.
I knew nothing about it until my midwife referred me but it is so important to us.
Nossa-Fatima is eating some solids now as well as breast milk, and the fresh fruit and vegetables that I can get from the foodbank are so good.
Then there are cleaning products - that is so important so I can give my daughter a good home. "Another user of North Oxfordshire Foodbank was referred after being diagnosed as seriously ill.
She has three children below the age of 13 and, when her husband received a pay rise, their Child Tax credits were halved, but she says the decrease was greater than the pay rise. She said: "The foodbank has been a lifeline for me.
My illness has left me unable to work and I am due to have surgery soon, but I don't qualify for disability benefit.
I hope I don't have to use it for long but it has been so important just while we recover financially. "Dave Furze has 25 years' experience in social enterprise in inner-city and rural areas and runs his own consultancy firm called Footprints.
He said: "Things can get very difficult for people who live in poverty in rural areas.
They are surrounded by a lot of affluence and are perhaps perceived as being wealthy themselves.
In big cities you get larger areas of deprivation, which naturally attract support, but in small villages it can go unnoticed, leading to deep feelings of helplessness and exclusion.
The place of the church in rural areas is huge as they have such potential to fill services being dropped by councils.
Churches have great networks and resources. "Join the Biennial Rural ForumTHE Biennial Rural Forum will be held from 9. 30-3pm on Saturday, November 25 at Stadhampton Church and Village Hall, St.
John The Baptist Church, The Green, Stadhampton, Oxford OX44 7AU. It will be chaired by the diocesan social responsibility adviser, Alison Webster, and will include a theological reflection from the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, an address from Jane Perry, author of 'For Richer For Poorer' report, and opportunities to discuss issues in the story above with those most affected.