A HEREFORDSHIRE food bank has spoken out as the cost of living crisis deepens.

The Hereford Food Bank, in Monkmoor Street, says it is struggling to keep up with demand as prices continue to rise.

Trustee Lucy Hurds, said that it continues to need more volunteers and donations.

She said that in 2019 it had a group of around 40 people who helped run the operation and get food out to people who needed it.

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This now stands at 110 volunteers and demand isn't getting smaller any time soon.

"It's a perfect storm, people who were already struggling are now finding themselves unable to put food on the table, and with fuel and heating bills continuing to rise, the winter will only bring more issues." she said.

After a drop in demand as the country came out of lockdown, use of the food bank started to rise in late March and hasn't stopped rising since.

"We are helping as many people as last year, but with less donations coming in, because more people are struggling to make ends meet."

Ms Hurds said there is no such thing as a typical food bank user.

She said: "It could be the young couple on your street, who you see taking the children to school on their way to work.

"They've lost their savings and now find that weekly food, petrol, and heating costs mean they are skipping meals.

"Or it could be the widow who lost her husband, is paying bills that they struggled to pay together and now finds it impossible.

"These are just some of the stories from the 40-50 referrals we get every week."

Ms Hurds also stressed that there were no 'regular' users of the food bank.

She said: "We are a last resort for people in desperate need, for people in crisis."

When people are referred we work with food share schemes to try and get everyone the help that they need."

For anyone who wishes to make a donation to the food bank, there are donation points in most of the major supermarkets in Hereford, including Co-op, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Tesco in Bewell Street, and Asda.