A Dundee priest has said his church is handing out around 50 food parcels a month to desperate people in the city.
Father Clive Clapson, of St Salvador’s Church in the Hilltown, said he is distributing hundreds of food parcels containing emergency supplies each month.
Father Clapson said: “What we are seeing is more and more people turning to us for help.
“As well as looking for food, people are approaching us because they are lonely and suffering from other social issues due to the area they live in.”
Father Clapson said urban deprivation is a real issue in the Hilltown and people who are facing poverty often also have drug and alcohol problems.
He said: “One of the things that has surprised us is that, as well as food parcels, we are now being asked to make up bags of toiletries.
“People are also struggling to buy basic necessities such as soap and shampoo.”
Father Clapson launched the foodbank in 2005 after a hungry stranger came through the church door asking for help.
Taking inspiration from previous church foodbanks he’d helped with, he started providing a food collection service the following week.
He named the foodbank The Food Cupboard. While most foodbanks only provide emergency food to people referred to them by social workers or other care professionals, the Food Cupboard provides help to any person who comes in asking for food and Father Clapson said demand has increased in recent years.
The Food Cupboard at the church in St Salvador Street is open on Sundays from 1.15pm to 2.15pm.