DEMAND for help from Inverclyde Foodbank is doubling as the cost of living crisis bites for many local families.

The charity, which is part of the wider Hope Church's i58 Project, recently re-opened after a two-week break and it has been inundated with requests for assistance.

Organisers, who receive referrals from dozens of organisations such as the council, GP surgeries and the DWP, say they handed out more than 100 parcels in just over a week

The foodbank boss Andrew McAlees said: "The number of clients has ramped up significantly since we re-opened on the tenth of January.

"We have given out over 105 parcels since then.

"There is never a fixed number of clients, but on average we usually hand out 250 parcels.

"We are on course to smash that figure this month."

Andrew says that people have been struggling over the festive period and into the new year.

He told the Telegraph: "With the changes to benefits and the uncertainty over access to services and the rise in the cost of living folk have really been struggling.

"People from across the board use the foodbank and since we started back, a lot more people have had to engage with us.

"We have people on benefits and in low-paid jobs who need the foodbank."

Andrew says that the charity is only one piece in a jigsaw of a host of agencies and organisations pulling together in Inverclyde to help people in need.

He said: "We feel privileged to work with lots of agencies and organisations, we are just part of the chain.

"It is a joint venture to see Inverclyde get better and recover.

"We don't want to be here but we will be here, as the problems people are facing are not going away anytime soon."

The foodbank is based in West Stewart Street on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 1 and 4pm.

Andrew says they are always very grateful for donations and are particularly short of tinned meat and fruit, pasta sauce and UHT milk at this time.