Food charity appeals for more help as demand rises

A charity feeding people every day of the year is asking for more volunteers to help with rising demand.

Encircles feeds more than 250 people each week including street homeless, those with addiction problems and professionals who have fallen on hard times.

No referrals are needed to access support from the charity, whether homeless or hungry, people can queue daily at Salisbury coach station to pick up food.

Formed in April 2019, the charity is self-funded and is administered and operated solely by volunteers.

Trustee Annie Hubbard said volunteering reminds the team that going hungry can "happen to anybody".

By using end-of-day leftover food donated by local businesses the charity also stops food going to waste.

Mrs Hubbard, who is also a local commercial manager, said the team "support 30 people every night of the week".

"On a Sunday there are around 100 hungry people waiting for a hot meal."

She said that numbers were increasing.

A team of 40 volunteers work on a rota to help with the daily prep and drop-off.

"We rely heavily on volunteers," said Mrs Hubbard, adding that any help was "most welcome".

The background of those the charity supports is varied.

Mrs Hubbard said: "Some people are scraping every penny to keep a roof over their heads, they can't afford heating or to put on the stove to cook food.

"We have others who struggle with addiction.

"We've had professional people, teachers or medical professionals use our services because they've had a job loss or a mental health breakdown with significant time off work.

"They have credit agreements they still have to service and they just don't have money for food."

The support given goes beyond the physical need for food.

Shaun, who has used Encircles for the past four years, said the charity is "really important" to him.

Suffering from epilepsy and dementia he said "every time I'm feeling down they're there to cheer me up and advise me".

Having been diagnosed with blood cancer, Ion, struggles to work and has used the charity for the past two years.

"They are like family," he said.

The Briggs family from Salisbury have volunteered during the last three Christmas Eve food collections.

Mark Briggs said their motivation comes from "being at the table and hearing the stories".

"Like tonight hearing about people who aren't getting their benefits and have got no money for food or they've got nowhere to sleep or they're going through some struggles - that's what it's all about."