Food bank continuing to provide vital lifeline to people from all walks of life
The role of food banks has become more important due to the impact of the pandemic on families across the region.
With job losses and restrictions on movement a part of life as Covid cases rose, more and more people began to visit food banks to get essential food and household items to help them live.
Excel Church Food Bank, in Bilston, became one of the leading food banks in the region, handing out hundreds of food parcels and other home essentials from its base in the church hall.
John Raj has been at the forefront of the efforts by the food bank to help the community and said he had been shocked at the amount of need there was in the community.
He said: "As soon as we set up the food bank, the demand just sky-rocketed and over the past two years, we've seen an increase in the type of people who are coming to us for help.
"That's not just the people being referred to us by other agencies who need help, it's also the middle-class families who are now coming to food banks as they have tried not to, but they've got to the stage where they need the extra support.
"This new wave of families is one which has come to us over the last few months and shows that food banks still hold a place in the community."
Among the services the church has provided during the pandemic has been helping people to sort out their electricity and gas supplies, provide warm blankets for winter and provide Christmas shoe boxes to youngsters.
John said the church had taken on a community role, working with local schools to look at the support they needed during the last two years, as well as adapting to the changing circumstances around the pandemic.
He said: "Every week, we had to adapt to the way we were doing things and learn from week to week as it was a different challenge and still proves to be now.
"We seem to have adapted to how the community works and look at their different needs and have found it's important to listen to services, different families and the elderly."
For John, the last two years had been challenging and could get very emotional at times, having heard many of the stories of those using the food bank.
He said: "When you hear so many different stories from families and individuals who come and share them with us, it can be very emotional to hear how they are struggling to cope with the situation.
"We try to offer practical and emotional support at the church and let them know if they need to speak to us, we are there to be an ear for them to talk to.
"I really do think the food bank will be here to stay for the long run, as even though the pandemic will eventually go away, the need for helping the community will always be there."
