THE average family is just two missed wage packets away from being homeless.

Peeblesshire Foodbank organiser Reverend Jim Benton-Evans revealed the startling figures which explained the rise in emergency food banks in the Borders.

Twice a week volunteers meet at the food bank in Peebles to sort donated food and prepare emergency boxes which will be delivered to those most in need.

Laura Robertson, from West Linton, was among the volunteers at its Cavalry Park home last Thursday when the Peeblesshire New visited.

She collected food donated by pupils and parents at St Ronan’s Primary, Innerleithen, and spent just over an hour checking its sell by dates.

Helping her was 38-year-old Alison Turnbull from Ivanhoe Road, Peebles who has been volunteering for about two months.

Mrs Turnbull said: “At the moment I am a stay at home mum and was looking for something where I could take my three-year-old son.” Volunteers also pack boxes ready to be sent out, with a typical emergency food box intended to last three days. Each box for a single person contains: a small pack of cereal; two standard tins of soup; two small tins: of beans, tomatoes, meat, fish, vegetables, rice; a small packet of biscuits; 500g sugar; 500g pasta; 40 tea bags; one litre of juice; half a litre of milk; a packet sauce and 1 small bar of chocolate.

Volunteers are always welcomed and at the moment there is a vacancy for a manager to work a few hours a week.

Rev Benton-Evans said: “Peebles Foodbank has been in operation just over a year although I was unofficially feeding people for the preceding nine months.

“People who receive emergency food can come from all strata of society. Someone who loses a good job may have many fixed commitments which cannot be quickly undone resulting in a short sharp crisis, although currently our largest group receiving food are young single men.” Rev Benton-Evans claims that the rise of food banks is not just due to the economic problems of the last five years although those have exacerbated the problems.

Rev Benton-Evans said: “Communities have fractured over the last 30 years and perhaps there is not the network which existed in the past where people would see a family struggling and try to help out. The modern food bank is a similar idea but run in a more coordinated way; what I like about this model is that it is not just about doling out food but also supporting those who need our help because of links with referring agencies.

“In my own past, when I was seven in the 1970s, my mum and dad were struggling and took us out of the house once all day because there was no food, but when we returned in the evening local people had left six bags with a variety of basic staples.

“No-one said anything but it had been noticed that there was a problem, I doubt that happens so much in the 21st Century.” The Peeblesshire Foodbank is part of the Trussel Trust and handles referrals from a range of organisations including social work departments, churches, the Citizens Advice Bureau and sometimes schools.

Rev Benton-Evans said: “Our biggest concern at the moment is penetration and access, not enough people know how to access us. I am particularly worried about elderly people many of whom are too proud to ask for help.” For more information about the Peeblesshire Foodbank call 07799041723.

Donations of food can be made at Tesco in Peebles throughout next week.