A?FOODBANK which has seen demand increase by 25% each year since it opened is preparing for its busiest summer yet. August is the busiest month for Callington Foodbank which opened in October 2011 with the purpose of supporting those who struggle financially to feed themselves and their families. Despite positive movements in the UK economy marked by increasing average take-home earnings and employment levels increasing, this has not stopped the increasing number of people who have become dependant on the services of foodbanks accross the UK, including the one in Callington. According to the Rev David Jewell, the manager of the Callington Foodbank, there are many factors which have caused an increase in the use of its vital services. 'Firstly, the summer period causes an increase in demand because it is the summer holidays for schoolchildren,' he said. 'Often poor working families cannot afford to pay to feed their children as there is an absence of free school meals, which is what would usually feed them. 'We have tried our best to combat this problem by introducing food vouchers to the schools which have local children on free school meals, so that way they can still be fed'. In addition, economic factors are also forcing people to use the foodbanks despite a growing economy. Inflation, measured through the CPI (Consumer Price Index), is growing at a rate beyond that of the increase in wages for those in lower paid jobs. This means that people in poor working families are becoming increasingly worse off, despite the increase in their wages, ultimately leading to their inability to pay previously affordable bills, food being one and arguably the most essential. 'The slow payment of those who are on benefits has also caused more people to come to us, particularly last year,' said Mr Jewell. 'As there is often a time lag between when welfare benefits are scheduled to arrive and when they actually do, this means that for several days people have no money to feed themselves and must come to us for assistance'. 'It is not just affecting those who are on benefits though — last year we had a student nurse come to us because her student finance payments had not come through, so she was in much the same situation as those who hadn't got their benefits on time.' It also appeared that people were finding themselves in other circumstances and needing to use the foodbank, added Mr Jewell. 'It is not just poor working families and those on benefits, we are now seeing nice cars park outside with people desperate for food, as people are becoming unemployed and being made redundant whilst still having high living costs.' 'Fortunately, we have managed to stockpile about three tonnes of food for the bank, which should last us until December and avoid us running out during the expected August rush. 'We have a very generous group of donors within the local community who do so much for the cause.' Supermarket shoppers in Callington donated nearly one and a half tonnes of food at a bi-annual collection event at Tesco for the foodbank recently. Among the volunteers were Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall and Callington Portreeve Andrew Long. 'Some people were so generous they even donated whole trolleys of food worth hundreds of pounds each, which is far more than we were expecting, which was maybe three items per person,' said the foodbank manager. Anyone who would like to volunteer for the foodbank or is in crisis and needs help can contact David Jewell on 01579 389576.