AN emergency food bank is running out of money after being inundated during its first month.

The Silkworth Trust centre in Langston Road, Debden, was opened after trustee Steve Mitchell heard about people going hungry in the area, and is feeding about 40 people or families a week.

“There's a real need here,” he said. “We’re getting people you wouldn’t believe.

“You see people coming up just because of depression – they can’t get to work and have got the sack.

“There are people in need because of the break-up of a relationship and then we’ve got pensioners we’re doing stuff with.

“One girl came in and said it was her daughter’s birthday. We had some big cakes donated and it made a difference to her and gave her daughter a good birthday.”

The bank is stocked partly by donated food and partly by dried and tinned food bought from a wholesale supplier.

People in need are given food vouchers at various places in Loughton, including Trapps Hill Surgery, the Restore community centre in The Broadway and several churches.

They then collect three days’ worth of supplies from the bank at the Seedbed Centre on Mondays between 1pm and 5pm.

Mr Mitchell, 46, a former alcoholic who set up the trust after he was helped by a similar group, said the bank was desperately in need of money.

“We have a charity shop in the Seedbed Centre, but the rent in the town centre was prohibitive,” he added. “We’re certainly making a difference, but we’re running out of funds.”

The number of people across the country turning to food banks for help rose from just over 60,000 in 2010 to about 130,000 last year, with debt, low income, delays in benefits and homelessness identified as the main reasons they are needed.

Mr Mitchell said mental health issues and unemployment were two of the biggest reasons for people needing the Debden bank.

“There are a lot of people with mental health issues in Debden – a higher number than elsewhere,” he added.

“There’s also a lot of unemployment. You think of Loughton and think of The Only Way is Essex, but it’s not like that.”

For more information on donating or volunteering, email info@thesilkworthtrust.org.

Click here to follow the Epping Forest Guardian on Twitter