Rochdale Foodbank statistics are “shocking”, says Simon Danczuk

A volunteer, Anne Hope, Iain Wight, Simon Danczuk and Margaret Wight at Rochdale Foodbank

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk said Rochdale Foodbank statistics are "shocking" on a recent fact-finding visit.

Rochdale Foodbank gave 6,614 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis last year; 2,263 of those receiving food were children, many referred to by health visitors.

Mr Danczuk said: “These are shocking statistics."

He congratulated the Foodbank volunteers them on all their hard work, saying: “I would like to thank the volunteers at Rochdale Foodbank for all the hard work they do, as well as all the people of Rochdale who have generously given to help those in need.”

Iain Wight, Chairman of Trustees at Rochdale Foodbank, said: “We appreciated Simon giving up valuable time to visit Rochdale Foodbank.

"Our volunteers give over 150 hours of service to the Rochdale community every week because they want to and they enjoy doing it, but it encourages them to see that people like Simon are supporting the work they do and recognising its worth.”