IT is shocking to consider that in western society many people are still facing financial hardship to such a point they debate whether or not to buy food. Particularly in as wealthy a city as Winchester.

Despite the Government’s assertions that the economy is recovering fast, many parents are still having to ask for hand-outs because they can’t cover their outgoings.

While there is less of a strain now than when the recession first hit there are still people, who earn a fair wage, but struggle to put a plate of food on the table and have to resort to charity.

But organisers at Winchester Basics Bank are trying to change that.

As previously reported, volunteers and administrators have been forced to call for an increasing number of donations over the past few years as they see families and not just homeless and vulnerable people.

The impact of the economic downturn reached far wider – and far higher – than many people thought, pushing charities across the country to breaking point and the Basics Bank was no exception.

Most recently research from Shelter showed nearly 800,000 working parents in the south were cutting back on buying food in a bid to help pay their rent or mortgage.

The YouGov poll also found that almost one in ten parents, the equivalent of 200,000 people, had even skipped meals to help pay for their home.

But now, in a bid to ease long-term demand, they’re working with another charity, called Food Up Front, following a successful model demonstrated by the Community Food Centre in Canada.

The idea is to offer a hand-up rather than a hand-out to relieve long-term pressure.

As September crops up, the bank starts to engage in its “harvest” to bring in as many donations as possible in the lead up to winter.

Liz Eastham, an administrator, said: “It’s not critical by any means this year but we’re not getting our big harvest collections from the schools and churches because of the time of year. This is when it starts to run low and we have to fill in from other things.

“It’s very steady the whole year round and we’re finding, at the moment, although the number of applications we’re processing has fallen we’re still seeing families. While we’re still helping homeless people a lot we’re seeing more and more families.

“We’ve been going 10 years and I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to stop soon.”

Most recently the bank, with the help of Fare Share, ran a neighbourhood food collection at Tesco in Winnall.

“It was a real mish-mash of people,” Liz added.

“We did shifts by the tills and handed out shopping lists of what we needed which really helped a great deal.”

But while Ms Eastham admits the donations were helpful she said it is not a long-term solution and so the bank is now working with Seb Mayfield, of Food Up Front, and together they have applied for funding from the Hilden Trust and Winchester City Council.

In an application to the Hilden Charitable Fund, Mr Mayfield said: “Having seen a dramatic rise in the use of Winchester Basics Bank since its launch in 2004, as with all food banks across the UK, it is clear that there is a hunger problem. However, given the fact that handing out food will only solve a person’s hunger problem in the immediacy, it is not a long-term solution.

“The problem is much broader than hunger and touches on social issues and related policies in the areas of poverty, health, social cohesion, and the food economy,” he added.

“Rather than viewing food as a commodity, whose production, distribution, and consumption are determined largely by the marketplace, we should view food as a public good, one that is key to human health and to an equitable society — and as such, one in which society as a whole has an interest and an obligation.

“The mission is for Winchester Basics Bank, in partnership with the referral agencies where relevant, to develop a local, sustainable and just food system in which the emphasis shifts from crisis interventions to prevention and maintenance.”

Mr Mayfield said thanks to a small grant from the city council research for this type of helping hand is now underway and a small community event will be held in the coming weeks.

“By applying for funding from the Hilden Trust, the bank is seeking to go beyond providing emergency food by researching and then developing grassroots-level programmes that are based on a view of food as having profound social, cultural, and material significance,” he added.

“In such a system people are actively involved in growing and preparing food. They will become gardeners, cooks and engaged citizens, rather than passive recipients of charity. Food will be used to build skills, health, confidence and self-esteem and create jobs for local people.”