MORE than 18,000 meals were provided by just one Barnsley church’s food banks last year after demand for its service to the town’s hard-up more than doubled during 2016, shocking figures reveal.
Gateway Church runs two food banks in Barnsley, one in Mottram Hall just outside the town centre, and the other at the Outreach Centre in New Lodge.
In 2015 just over 900 people were fed by the two combined. But in 2016 that figure rocketed to more than 2,000 with 1,514 using the town centre bank, and 505 at New Lodge.
“It’s an astonishing number and as each individual is supplied with enough food for three days this roughly equates to 18,000 meals being issued at the Gateway Food Banks,” said Gateway’s community worker Neil Morris.
Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle
