WHEN Kirsty* first came to Portsmouth Foodbank four years ago, she had just come out of an abusive relationship and her four children were in foster care.

She was desperate, not just for regular food but for emotional support and building confidence in herself. Volunteers offered her one-to-one support, which reduced her anxiety and restored some self-esteem.

Kirsty went on to volunteer herself at the Foodbank, helping to run one of the support groups, and was baptised at King’s Church. She’s now having overnight visits from her eldest daughter and supervised contact with two of her other children.

For Debbie Smith, who runs the Foodbank support work, it shows how their role involves much more than just giving food to those in need.

“Kirsty was in a bad place emotionally,” she said. “She was lonely, felt she had no purpose and thought no one liked her. I did some one-to-one sessions with her and her anxiety reduced and her confidence was built up. She became a volunteer receptionist for the Foodbank, and used to work with the kids in a craft group that we ran for mums.

“She also became one of the volunteers on our church’s welcome team and was baptised by immersion on Easter Sunday, less than a year after we first saw her. She’s now so much more confident. She doesn’t need food from us any more, and she is seeing her children.

“We try to look at the whole person, so it’s about building a relationship and trying to help them with other needs they have. And we have lots of different groups they can join, if that’s what they need.”

Kirsty’s story is one of many from Portsmouth Foodbank, which will receive some of the funds raised as part of the Bishop’s Lent Appeal in 2024. Half of your donations will go to Tearfund’s Middle East Emergency Appeal, helping those affected by the humanitarian crisis created by the conflict in Israel and Gaza. And half will go to the work of the Trussell Trust, which runs Foodbanks across our diocese.

Derek* is another person who has benefitted from Portsmouth Foodbank. He is now in his 70s, but has worked and travelled across the world. He’s now living in emergency housing after being made homeless. He has been collecting food since last August.

“I was living with a friend in Havant, but I had to leave his house,” he said. “My emergency housing only has a microwave, so I can’t do much with fresh vegetables. But without the Foodbank here, I would be stuck.”

In Portsmouth, the main Trussell Trust Foodbank is at King’s Church, with subsidiary Foodbanks at Paulsgrove Baptist Church and All Saints Church in Commercial Road. Between them, they feed around 250 people each week, including single people and families. Demand keeps going up, and they see around 30 new clients each week.

Individuals and families are given packages including tinned meat, beans, soup and tomatoes, plus pasta, milk, tea bags and cereal. It’s designed to be enough to feed them for three days, and to be nutritionally balanced. They rely on donations from the public and contributions from supermarkets.

The church has a warehouse full of food that has been bought or donated. It is sorted into different crates, for single people, couples, families of three or four, and families of five and above. Clients are able to sit in a café created inside the church while their packages are being put together, and staff and volunteers can talk through any other issues they face.