A Richmond food bank is urging the public to keep donating as it introduces special measures to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
The StoreHouse, run by the Influence Church, in Victoria Road, has thanked people who have made donations and urged people to keep making them as it prepares for increase in need in coming days and weeks.
The food bank said in a statement said: “Firstly, thank you to all those who have been donating.
“This will help us to support the most vulnerable in our society and those in crisis.
“This number is rising due to the recent events. If you are able to, please continue to donate.”
The church is open Tuesday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.30pm.
Temporary measures have been introduced for users of the services to cope with the rise in demand.
The food bank will operate a one-in-one-out system when it opens from 4pm to 6pm on Thursdays.
They will provide two weeks worth of food and log this on the computer.
The volunteers who run the service say this is to ensure users have enough food in case of self isolation.
They will also provide meal planners and budget planners to help them manage the food for two weeks.
The statement adds: “We will not provide coffees etc or operate any help yourself tables.
“You will still be provided with the fresh food but it will be bagged.
“We encourage people to make good use of the two-hour window and not all come at once as soon as we open.
“All special measures for hygiene will be in place. We will be making arrangements to review some of our polices and are following Government guidelines on a daily/weekly basis.”
The statement adds: “We believe although this is an uncertain time It is a time of community and as a church will do all we can to support this.”
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