A FOOD bank in Carlisle will run out of food in four to five weeks unless its situation improves.

St James Church and Cornerstone Food Bank, based in Denton Holme, is urgently asking for support from the community as its stores are being depleted due to a lack of food and financial donations.

Andy Blake, manager of Cornerstone, said: "Donations of food have severely dropped off but obviously the need for the food bank hasn't.

"In fact, it has increased as people are struggling with bills going up and having to make tough decisions about what they can buy. 

"Things have changed since Covid, Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis. Whereas before Covid, before Ukraine, we used to see people who would regularly bring in bags of food to the food bank.

"But because people are struggling, they're not in a position where they're able to add an extra few tins to their shopping."

The food bank, which can be found at Cornerstone on Denton Street, has been open for almost 15 years and, in the last two months alone, has supported more than 280 different people. 

It costs more than £200 per week to run - an expense which is currently covered by grants and financial donations. This money is used on deliveries from Tesco of food items that they're running particularly low on.

"I've estimated that what we have left in regards to the grants and stuff is only enough for another four or five weeks' worth of deliveries then the food bank will be getting empty from that point on," said Mr Blake.

Alongside the food bank, Cornerstone also runs a weekly community breakfast which provides a free meal to local people on a Wednesday morning during term time.

It's an incredibly popular event, bringing in anywhere between 40 to 60 people each week.

"There are a lot of single people who come because they're lonely, isolated, or just struggling for food but there are a lot of families who come as well.

"We get a lot of parents who come with their children to have their breakfast and they'll then go off to school afterwards.

"It just shows how much it is needed when you see so many people coming along to it."

The breakfast was set-up in response to the cost-of-living crisis as they saw that more people and families were coming to them for support.

"It wasn't just people who were in receipt of benefits or long-term unemployed. We're actually seeing working people coming to the food bank and that was the big shift for us."

Mr Blake stressed that if people are in a position where they're able to donate a bag of food or even some canned goods to the food bank, they'd appreciate it.

Businesses can also support the charity with donations of food or money. 

"We're keeping positive, there's still time and we do get people coming in from time to time with a donation of a few hundred pounds which is incredibly generous of them," he said.

"If people want us to support our community in the way that we are with the food bank and the breakfast, then we need a bit of help to ensure that it is sustainable."