A DESPERATELY-needed foodbank is about to open in Ringwood, following months of work by volunteers.

A band of people have been busy sorting out storage, a distribution centre and enough volunteers to run the service after being shocked by the number of families in Ringwood, Fordingbridge and Verwood who were living in food poverty.

Jacqueline Brown, Claire Skelly and Jim Hogg are launching the foodbank with the help of Salisbury-based charity The Trussell Trust, which also has a foodbank in Bournemouth.

Mrs Brown said: “We think these foodbanks are too far away for the hundreds of people in this area who are going hungry for a number of reasons. Many are working but when an unexpected bill drops in, for example to fix the car, they are having to make choices between fixing it or buying food.

“While I was a school governor at Ringwood School I learned about the poverty some of the children were living in.

“This is perceived to be an affluent area yet there are pockets of deprivation in the town.”

The trio are launching the service at the Wesley Centre in Christchurch Road from 7pm-8pm on July 5.

People can go along and donate food from this list: Milk (UHT or powdered), sugar (500g), fruit juice (carton), soup, pasta sauces, sponge pudding (tinned), tomatoes (tinned), cereals, rice pudding (tinned), tea bags/instant coffee, instant mashed potato, rice/pasta, tinned meat/fish, tinned fruit, jam and biscuits or snack bars.

The foodbank’s official opening is to be performed by mayor Steve Rippon-Swaine.

Also on July 5, students at Ringwood School will take part in a non-uniform day, paying £1 per head and donating tins of food.

On July 5 and 6 there will be a Foodbank event at Tesco in Ferndown, where food items can be bought and donated.

Trussell Trust executive chairman Chris Mould said: “The trust has seen firsthand the devastating impact of rising food prices on people.

“It means the budgets of people on the breadline are stretched even further, so even a small change in financial circumstances can push people into a crisis where they cannot afford food.

“Many low-income working families are living on a knife edge.”

For more information about the Ringwood Foodbank contact 07501 598800 or go to www.ringwoodfoodbank.org.uk or www.trusselltrust.org.