‘WE don’t know what we would do without Tesco’ is how Teignbridge Homeless Action Today (THAT), a registered charity operating a food bank in Newton Abbot, which is experiencing an increase in demand for its services, described its relationship with the supermarket.

In August of 2021 the food bank, which is based out of premises in Buckland, experienced zero new claimants - in August of this year that number was 36 - 36 families used the food bank for the first time.

THAT supply clients with tailored food packs, which are delivered by volunteers and, up until recently, at a rate of between seven and 10 per day - over the last month this has increased to 15 per day.

In view of these increases, and those to prices of food and fuel generally, it was perhaps no surprise when Linda Brown, office manager at THAT food bank, stressed how vital the charities arrangement with Tesco is.

Linda said: ‘We are seeing more people use the food bank who we have never seen before, families where the parents are in work and yet can’t make ends meet and we are seeing a lot of Ukrainian families too.

‘The thing we have found is because of the situation with the supermarkets we are not getting the amount of fresh stock in like we used to – it is difficult.

‘We are looking into perhaps buying stuff in so that we can provide fresh food.

‘We don’t know what we would do without Tesco at the moment, they are brilliant and Janette is five star.’

Janette Parker is Tesco Kingsteignton’s Community Champion and her first job in the morning is, with help from collegue Sandra, putting together donation bags, bound for THAT food bank, for customers to purchase.

‘I select the foods the foodbank are in need of and we make up two bags: a two pound and under bag and a five pound and under bag, so it can suit everyone’s budget and everyone can contribute if they want to.

‘I’ll phone the food bank every ten days or so to see what they are short of’ Janette said.

The bags greet customers as they enter the store and when purchased at the checkout are deposited in a cage by the exit, awaiting collection by a THAT volunteer.

‘We have thought of a way of making it easier for our customers to donate if they want to and also the food bank gets what it needs’ Janette said.

Linda said: ‘It is a system that works well for us because there is certain stock we will probably never run out of: pasta, baked beans, soup and so on, but there is stock we run out of on a constant basis.

‘When the guys downstairs are making up the boxes they’ll come and say “Linda we are getting low on custard or sugar”.

‘I can ring Janette and say, in this week’s bags can we have sugar, can we have custard? Bless her she does it and we get what we need and it is not just food but toiletries and cleaning products too.’

THAT food bank also give out toiletry and cleaning packs to claimants, as well as offering them support with energy costs by paying for electric and gas top ups for those with prepayment meters, for example.

The charity handed out £30 worth of fuel top ups to claimants in August of 2021 compared with £250 worth in August of this year: numbers of toiletry packs distributed per month jumped from 20 to 40 and cleaning packs, although a reltaviely new addition, have been quickly snapped up.

THAT food bank, it would be fair to say, has grown into much more than just a place to obtain food in times of emergencies, it has become a hub for those in need.

A user of the foodbank, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘I moved down here due to domestic violence and so I had nothing.

‘THAT was there for me, they are more than a foodbank.

‘They are always there to help people on a regular basis, if I need something printed for instance, or if you just need a chat.’