FEWER emergency food parcels were provided to vulnerable people by Slough Foodbank last year, but bosses say food poverty remains a huge challenge.

In the financial year 2014/15, 3,480 packages of three days’ emergency food were handed out to people in and around Slough by Slough Foodbank, down close to 300 compared to the year before when the figure stood at 3,771.

Sue Sibany-King, manager at Slough Foodbank, said: “The fact that it has gone down 300 people or so is absolutely good news.

“But when you consider it jumped up by about a third in 2013 when the benefits changes came into force, it is not a huge drop off in relation to that rise.

“Those numbers represent real people at the end of the day and people are still struggling.” Ms Sibany-King added Slough Foodbank, which has 80 regular volunteers, is seeing a shift in the circumstances of the people it helps with less citing the change in the benefits system and more with low or a lack of income, debt problems and homelessness.

However, around 46% of users do still cite problems with benefits – either delays in payment or changes to the system – as their reason for asking for emergency food packages.

Nationally, the Trusell Trust claim the number of packages being given for three days’ worth of emergency food eclipsed the 1,000,000 mark for the first time in 2014-15 with 1,084,604 packages being dished out.

Slough Foodbank completed its move into its new warehouse in Montrose Avenue at the start of April after leaving its home of 15 months in Buckingham Avenue.

Ms Sibany-King added: “It’s a bit like a TARDIS here – we didn’t believe we would fit everything we have got in!” The foodbank currently has a surplus of dried food such as rice and pasta so people wishing to donate are asked to go online to check the list of needed items.

The website is http://slough.foodbank.org.uk/ People in need of food packages can call 01753 550303.