A new emergency foodbank distribution centre has opened in Alexandria.
Food For Thought, based in Dumbarton’s St Augustine’s Church, has increased staff and is quadrupling its reach with an extra three distribution centres across West Dunbartonshire.
The Alexandria base opened on Tuesday last week in the Catra Centre in Alexander Street.
It will be open every Tuesday between 11.30am and 1.30pm and provide food parcels to anybody requiring support.
The charity has gone from handing out 40 food packages a week to 300.
Chiefs also forecast that demand will grow further as the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic deepens.
Lorraine McLeish said: “We realised that demand had really spiked and we needed to branch out and reach more people than we did before lockdown.
“We want to support the people we help even more by redirecting them to local services which can help, including DACA, Alternatives and West Dunbartonshire Citizens Advice Bureau.
“We also wanted to do this before but the pandemic has really accelerated the situation. It’s about keeping up with that demand now, especially going forward as we expect it to increase.”
Food For Thought will operate four distribution centres: one in Dumbarton between Mondays and Fridays, the new one in Alexandria on Tuesdays and two more in the Clydebank area. Donations can be handed in at St Augustine’s, Loch Lomond Craft Centre in Mitchell Way and The Coffee Station at Dumbarton Central.
