Watford Foodbank was visited by Watford’s MP as he volunteered to help sort out food donations.

MP Dean Russell toured the foodbank on January 29, to discover better support following ongoing issues of children’s school holiday meals and Universal Credit.

During the tour, manager Andrew Tranter explained the distribution process and the effects of the pandemic.

Despite the number of volunteers halved during the first lockdown, Mr Tranter states that the food distribution service was able to continue as normal.

Talking about the tour, Mr Tranter said: “We explained the operation of the Foodbank, its systems, uptake within the Community, our accounting and statistic gathering information which enables us to account for all donations and the distribution of food parcels.

“It provided an opportunity to discuss our findings about the major causes of 'crisis' in our community, by far the major issue is Low Income.”

Mr Russell also paid interest to the prevention and recycling of food waste.

Mr Tranter said: “We took Dean to see our overflow store holding over 20 tonnes of food all, donated mainly during December. We are now in the process of finding another storage facility to cater for future expansion.”

Talking about his thoughts on the visit, the manager said: “Dean has volunteered his services to come and help us date and sort our donations.

“We were left with the distinct impression that Dean is a hands-on person who is focused on those who are struggling for whatever reason and that he has an open-door policy.

“Thank you Dean for giving us some of your time.”