Clydesdale Food Bank referrals double in 12 months

Local Food Bank co-ordinator Liz Paton also revealed to the Gazette that in the last year the Food Bank has handed out £25,000 worth of food to the needy.

And in the wake of a recently published Feeding Britain report by the House of Commons all-party parliamentary group, Liz hopes that by this time next year she and the other Food Bank volunteers will be made ‘redundant’.

She said: “It’s very sad that so many food banks are now operating. There is something very wrong with the benefit system.

“We had 240 referrals last year - now that number has increased to more than 500!”

For more on this story pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette, which is in the shops now.