The town’s Salvation Army say they are seeing more homelessness and people struggling to make ends meet.

The issues were highlighted to Slough MP Tan Dhesi last Wednesday during a visit. The Stoke Road Corps (church) works closely with men and women facing poverty and homelessness on a daily basis.

It also runs a soup kitchen and a weekly community drop-in for rough sleepers.

Church leader, Malcolm Anderson said: “It was great to welcome Tan Dhesi to our Corps and tell him how concerned we are about the increase we’ve seen in people asking for help because they’re struggling with higher rents or are actually homeless.

“We wanted to highlight just how difficult it is to get access to benefits or medical care once a person is homeless; not to mention trying to find employment with no fixed address.

“He is obviously deeply concerned about what’s happening in our community too and we’re confident he’ll work hard to bring these issues to the forefront in Parliament.”

The soup kitchen is from 7.15pm to 8.30pm every Thursday and Sunday.