Demand for emergency food handouts in Perth and Kinross has soared by almost 50% over the past year.
From April to September this year, the number of applications for the crisis parcels jumped to 1109.
Officials at the Perth and Kinross foodbank say this marks a 47% increase on the same period in 2015. The packages helped feed 1,543 adults and 566 children.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said the trend was “concerning” and called for swifter intervention from public bodies to prevent financial crises.
Those in charge of the foodbank attribute the increased demand to a move in premises. The facility relocated from Bridgend to a larger building in Cutlog Vennel in April.
Manager Les Paskin said: “We were in Bridgend, which required people to walk over the Perth Bridge and back again to pick up parcels. In bad weather this was difficult but even at the best of times it meant they were carrying parcels for quite a considerable distance.
“We are now in Cutlog Vennel, which is just around the corner from the Mill Street bus stance and it means we are far more easily accessible.
“I think what’s happened is more people are taking the food vouchers and actually coming to collect the parcels, whereas before the vouchers were being issued but parcels weren’t necessarily being collected.
“This increase emphasises to me how necessary the foodbank has been and that we have perhaps not been meeting the need as efficiently as we could have done if we had been in the centre of town to start off with.”
However he added that the foodbank was still managing to meet the increased demand.
“The premises is about three times the size of what we had in Bridgend,” he said. “We have no funding – it’s a costly business providing food when you don’t have any funding. However we have a huge number of local people making donations.
“Food supply is not an issue – people are very, very generous and we have a regular income of food from local churches and supermarkets.”
Mr Fraser said: “It is disappointing to see a significant increase in the number of people in Perth having to use foodbanks. The number of children reliant on foodbanks is particularly concerning as it is important that youngsters are able to have a balanced diet with fresh fruit and vegetables.
“Statistics show that more than half of those using a foodbank do so on a one-off basis only, when they hit a financial crisis. Public agencies need to do more to ensure that proper, timely support is there for those that need it.”
