THE Bishop of Oxford has praised volunteers at Abingdon's foodbank for helping families who fall on hard times.

About 30 volunteers staff the foodbank at Christ Church in Northcourt Road, preparing food parcels for them and Christmas hampers.

Sarah Fry, who helps to run the foodbank welcomed the Bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft, on Thursday and told him how they have helped 1,340 people so far this year, following 600 referrals with a number of different agencies, including the Citizens Advice Bureau and the JobCentre.

The number of people using the foodbank has grown considerably since it was launched in 2009 - when they were under 100 referrals.

People drop off donations at the church, or in Waitrose supermarket.

Rt Rev Croft said: "The foodbank is making a real difference to people in times of extreme need.

"I think people only use them as a last resort but they draw on them at a time of crisis.

"It's wonderful that churches are involved in the operation of these foodbanks but we need to keep asking why we need this extra provision on top of what the welfare state can provide."

Organisers of the foodbank said it was designed to help people going through a period of crisis who were struggling to feed themselves and their families.

They added that redundancy, ill-health, family break-up or unexpected large bills can all cause a financial crisis.

Mother-of-two Mrs Fry, who helps to run the foodbank, said: "We open on Tuesday and Friday and people come to us with vouchers after being referred to us by about 30 different agencies.

"We are very busy at the moment coming up to Christmas and we are preparing Christmas hampers as well as the usual food parcels.

"We are putting cakes, puddings and tins of ham in the hampers and for the food parcels we need lots of non-perishables - tins of beans, for example, packets of cereal, milk and jam.

"We buy fresh bread and have a link-up with Oxford Food Bank, which brings fresh food from the supermarkets."

Rev Keith Dunnett, associate vicar at Christ Church, said: "We need lots of donations to make up the Christmas hampers - the foodbank is a practical way of showing Jesus's love for the community."

Partners of Abingdon Emergency Foodbank include Oxfordshire County Council Community Support Fund, 35 Ock Street; Abingdon Baptist Church, Dunmore Primary School, Rush Common Primary School; St Helen’s Church, Abingdon Kindergarten, Abingdon Vineyard Church, St Nicolas Church and Peachcroft Christian Centre.