More than a decade on from its launch the demand for Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank services shows no sign of easing.
During 2024 they helped almost 7000 individuals by providing them with food parcels and other essential items.
The foodbank started up in 2013 and now has 130 volunteers working to ensure that families and individuals who use the service don’t go without.
The registered Scottish charity’s base is at Rutherglen Exchange Shopping Centre, but it distributes to people in the community four times a week from three different locations.
It is open Mondays and Thursdays from 12.30pm to 2.30pm at Rutherglen Community Baptist Church, Fridays at the same times at Romanian Pentecostal Church Halls in Cambuslang, and on Tuesdays from 5.45pm to 7.45pm at Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre.
From the start of 2024 they have given out 6705 parcels, of those 4815 were to individual adults and another 1890 were to families with children.
Veronica Gunn, only took up the position of manager of Rutherglen and Cambuslang Foodbank just weeks before Christmas.
She said: “I’ve only been here a full two weeks and it’s a career change for me away from corporate work.
“Previously, I’d worked with the Wise Group and had been sending staff out because people were cold and had no heating, then we’d find out they had no food as well, so food banks often came up and I was always interested in their work. I just wanted to do something that helps in the community.
“We take referrals from other agencies but we would never turn anyone away without food, who’s really in need. We would give them a bag for over night and then direct them to get a referral.
“Sometimes you can get people turning up who have never been in that position before and they just don’t know what to do. It’s not something we encourage but we wouldn’t turn them away and they walk away with something, normally an overnight bag.”
Donations are declining while the number of people needing to use the service is heading in the other direction.
Veronica is grateful to the general public and the volunteers who help ensure they can continue to help the rising number of people who struggle to make ends meet, for whatever reason.
She added: “People are chapping the door with donations all the time when I’m in Rutherglen, I could be an individual with a bag or a business that’s been to Costco.
“It’s incredible to see how it all works and how hard the volunteers work.
“We’ve got 130 volunteers who help with Rutherglen, Cambuslang and Whitlawburn, we have people who do social media and write thank yous to donors, we have drivers – and we need more of them. It can be quite a heavy job.
“We are seeded by the Trussell Trust, they support us and are always there to help us if needed. We’d also like to give a big shout out to the big Tesco in Dalmarnock and the one in Burnside, and Morrisons in Cambuslang.
“We’ve just had a big food drive with Tesco in Burnside and it went really well.”
More information on the foodbank is available via their website at: https://rutherglencambuslang.foodbank.org.uk
*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.