WHEN a foodbank is running out of supplies because so many people need a handout just to avoid starving, you know that something has gone seriously wrong with society.

That is the reality at Worcester Foodbank where there are empty shelves.

More than 3,100 'clients' have received a food parcel from the Worcester Foodbank since January – about 800 more than at the same time last year. Referrals have been climbing with every passing month and during May they were up 61 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The problems of Universal Credit are well known, but there is less focus on those people who have a job but earn so little they cannot provide for their whole family.

Businesses who pay their staff a pittance and haven't increased salaries in line with inflation are just as much to blame as the government. They use the 2007-08 financial crisis and recession as an excuse to freeze and reduce salaries and exploit employees. And, because almost all companies in certain sectors are doing this, people have no option but to accept dire pay as the alternative is unemployment.

Please donate to the Worcester Foodbank by visiting or emailing info@worcester.foodbank.org.uk