A KNUTSFORD foodbank has thanked the community for its support during the Covid pandemic but said more help was still needed.

Hope Central, the foodbank at The Welcome, in Longridge, has been providing essential food to a significant number of people in the community.

Volunteers are pleased to see the need in the community is declining but are concerned the supply of food is declining faster, despite a generous donation from Vestey Foods UK.

The food supply company donated more than 3,000 tins of food to Hope Central, but more help is still needed.

Now the Hope Central team has issued an appeal for further donations.

Ian Robertson, trustee at Hope Central, said: "We would like to thank Vestey Foods UK for their recent support. With giving declining, this has been much appreciated.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been blessed by the generosity of the good people of Knutsford and have provided essential food to a large number of local people.

"Fortunately, that need is declining, but alongside that, the supply of food has declined faster.

"The effects of Covid have not gone away and we believe with the removal of the Universal Credit supplement, the ending of furlough, increasing energy costs and changes to National Insurance, more people will be drawn into poverty and debt.

"We now run a CAP Debt Centre and run Money Management courses to support those needing this kind of help.

"With the supply chain issues in the food industry, fresh food donations from supermarkets have reduced significantly and so we still need tinned food and believe we will need more going forward.

"We are now operating hand to mouth on some essential food items such as packets of plain rice, cartons of UHT semi skimmed milk and tins of tomatoes, potatoes, meat, custard and evaporated milk.

"It’s not over and we still need support."