BENEFIT changes have resulted in increased demand for the foodbank in Callington.

Delays in people receiving benefits, especially if forms are filled in incorrectly, mean the foodbank is crucial in feeding families until benefit payments are sorted, said the town's foodbank organiser.

And foodbank project manager the Rev David Jewell said demand was likely to increase next month because of school summer holidays.

Callington Foodbank has been running for just over a year and a half and in that time has given out around 11 tonnes of food to 1,740 people, 730 of which have been children.

Mr Jewell said: 'We are currently looking towards August — last year it was our busiest month, probably due to children being off school and not getting their free school dinners during the day.

'Big families become desperate. Last August we gave out one tonne of food, and we currently have three tonnes so we think we will have plenty to make sure everyone is helped.'

Mr Jewell said there was more need than they anticipated when the foodbank was set up: 'It is far busier than we thought it would be. It's only a small town — there is a population of about 10,000 in the area we cover and there seems to be a lot of need. It's incredible really, we normally give out one or two boxes for each day of the year.

'We give a lot to people who are struggling with a low income but also to people who find themselves in a crisis such as suddenly losing their job.

'We had an elderly lady whose grandchild came to live with them and they couldn't afford to feed them both — not everyone who comes to us fits the stereotype.'

Mr Jewell said he has seen an increase in need since the recent benefit changes.

'If there is someone in real need, we put them in touch with care professionals that will issue them with a voucher, which they bring to the foodbank to receive a food parcel.

'People will normally be allowed a maximum of three vouchers, which should last about three weeks — hopefully by that time people's benefits would have come in or we will have signposted them to help. It is meant to be a short-term help rather than a long-term dependancy.'

Almost £2,500 worth of food was donated by Tesco customers at the foodbank collection in Callington recently.

Foodbank volunteers, including members of the Royal British Legion, handed out special selected wish-lists of long-life foods to shoppers, as part of the biggest ever food collection in the UK.

In all, 1,486 kgs of food was handed in at the store over two days, equivalent to £2,496, with Tesco topping it up by 30% to make a grand total of £3,244.

The foodbank runs from the car park of the Mustard Seed Evangelical Church on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 2pm to 4pm, where people who come to pick up a food parcel and have a cup of tea and get advice and information on the help available to them.

There is also a satellite foodbank at Tamar Valley Methodist Church, open Thursdays from 10.30am to 11.30am for people closer to that area.

Mr Jewell said the foodbank is currently stocked with a variety of goods but is normally in need of things like UHT milk and fruit juice.

'We get a lot of cans of beans and soup which is brilliant but things like milk are always useful but just not thought of when donating.

'Most things we get are things that don't need to be heated. Sometimes we give food to homeless people who have no access to heating facilities so they need to have something that is edible straight from the packaging.'

Mr Jewell expressed thanks to everyone who donated at the collection at Tesco: 'There was just over 1.5 tonnes of food donated on that day. It's very encouraging. Big thanks to everyone who donated it shows what a great community we are.

'We would also like to give a huge thank you to Tesco for their welcome and the opportunity to encourage the residents of Callington to donate food.'

Tesco manager Pete Downing said: 'Our customers were incredibly generous when we held our last food collection in December, so we're amazed to have collected an even bigger total this time around. 

'All our colleagues and volunteers from the foodbank really enjoy the collection as it gives us a real opportunity to help local people who are in need.'

Anyone who would like to volunteer for the foodbank or is in crisis and needs help can contact David Jewell on 01579 389576.