A dad-of-four, who cares for his disabled wife, says his family would starve without their local foodbank.
Clive Dayus, 64, from Warndon, Worcester says once he has paid the bills, he has "nothing left" to buy food.
The Worcester Foodbank had its busiest time ever during the pandemic - but is now bracing itself for even more families coming to its door as bills are set to soar this winter, reports Birmingham Live.
Mr Dayus, who has four children and 34 grandchildren, used to work two jobs but is now on benefits because he's a carer for his wife.
"Once all the bills have been paid we have no money - if it wasn't for the foodbank I reckon we'd starve," he said.
"I got referred here by the Citizens Advice Bureau because I was living hand to mouth. It was strange coming here at first, but the staff are so welcoming and friendly and don't make me feel ashamed."
Joining Clive was his daughter, Ann-Marie, aged 39, who has seven children, and also relies on the foodbank.
"I've been here four or five times and now that Universal Credit has been cut I've honestly no idea how I'm going to feed my kids," she said.
"I don't feel great coming here, but what else can I do? By the time I've paid everything I can't afford anything else for four weeks.
"When I come back with the bags from the foodbank the kids are like it's Christmas."
Situated in the busy Lowesmoor Wharf on the edges of the city centre, the foodbank occupies an entire warehouse unit.
It is open just three hours a day on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and in the last 12 months has provided food for more than 10,000 people.
The service, which costs between £120,000 and £130,000 a year to run, is on course to have its busiest year since it was set up in 2012.
Managers said September was their fourth busiest month since it opened and by the end of 2021 they were set to have helped the most people ever.
They have launched an appeal for donations - saying the "food coming in was not matching the food going out".
Foodbank manager, Graham Lucas, said they had helped 925 people in September - much more than the other months of this year.
He said it was down to a "perfect storm" of events which had pushed people to crisis point.
"People are often surprised that Worcester needs a foodbank as it's a city in a prosperous rural area," he said.
"But there are pockets of urban deprivation in Worcester and that's where most of our clients come from.
"September was particularly busy for us because it was the perfect storm of the pandemic, furlough ending, the ending of the Universal Credit uplift, rising inflation and energy bills starting to go up.
"Any one of these things could force a family into poverty - but all of them together had meant many are now in crisis."
Mr Lucas said they were bracing themselves for a busy end of year.
"As inflation goes higher and gas and electric bills land on doormats, that's when it will hit families," he said.
"Last year - because of the pandemic - was our busiest year, but 2021 is set to beat that because we're already 22 per cent up on the same period last year."
