THE Anglesey Foodbank got a tasty donation when it was presented with a cheque for £250 thanks to Llangefni’s mayor.

Town mayor, Councillor Dylan Rees, met with representatives of the foodbank to present the money which had been raised at the Mayor’s Sunday service.

“I would like to thank everyone for their generosity during the collection at my Mayor’s Sunday Service which has enabled me to make this donation and also make a similar gift to Tearfund Cymru,” said Councillor Rees. 

“I am well aware of the excellent work that Anglesey Foodbank does in seeking to stop hunger and break the cycle of poverty. They provide a vital service and all the volunteers involved deserve the highest praise for the fantastic work that they do.”

Roy Fyles, trustee and supervisor of the Anglesey Foodbank, which has its distribution centre at the Elim Church, at Holyhead, said: “We very much appreciate the support that we have received from the Mayor.

“Sadly, the demand for emergency food parcels is increasing and we are now providing between 20-30 parcels every week. The parcels are given to local people who find themselves in financial crisis and contain nutritionally balanced food that will last for three days.

“All clients are referred to us by frontline care professionals and we work with over 30 different agencies across the island to identify people in crisis. Some people think that we only provide a service to homeless clients, but we are finding that more and more people on zero hour contracts are now coming to us for help.”  

Paul Norris, chairman of the Foodbank added: “Residents on Anglesey will be facing further financial challenges when Universal Credit goes live on March 28, 2018. Transferring from legacy benefits such as Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) or Employment Support Allowance (ESA) onto Universal Credit can take up to eight weeks.

“In areas where the full universal credit rollout has taken place we have seen food bank referral rates running at more than double the national average because of benefit delays. Consequently we are very grateful to receive donations from the public and would invite people to consider putting an item or two into one of our collection boxes when they go shopping.”

Anglesey Foodbank has collection boxes in supermarkets including: Asda Llangefni, Tesco, Holyhead and Waitrose, Menai Bridge. The distribution centre at the Elim Church, Holyhead, is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 11am – 3pm.