A food bank has helped to feed more people in the last three months than the whole of last year. 

Since opening in June 2013, Loughton Foodbank, which is run from sites in The Broadway and St Mary’s Church in High Street, has provided emergency food parcels for more than 600 people, including 250 children.

Its mission statement is to ‘restore hope and dignity to those on the borderline of poverty’.

Food bank manager Heather Scholer, 32, says there has been a spike in people seeking help since the end of July.

She puts this down to increased referrals and publicity for the project, but admits more people with jobs are seeking help.

“It is inevitable that the numbers are increasing as more and more people are aware of our services,” she added.

“We get referrals from debt management companies, mental health teams, social workers and GPs. Partners are always uncovering more people who are in need of our services.

“We only provide emergency parcels of food with enough for three days, so we hope that people get back on their feet as soon as possible.

 “In the winter months people are faced with the terrible choice of eat or heat.”

For more on this story, see next week's Guardian - out Thursday