The Epsom and Ewell Foodbank has said it is looking for a new, bigger home to cope with an expected ‘sharp rise’ in the number of people it will need to feed next year.

In its three years of existence the foodbank has fed more than 7,000 people and has collected hundreds of tons in food donations including sponge pudding, tea bags, instant mashed potato and soup.

Surrey Comet:

Foodbank volunteer, Brian Cockram

But despite the UK no longer being in recession, the Epsom food bank’s output this year is ten per cent higher than it was the previous year, and forecasts mean it is preparing for a bigger spike next year.

Jonathan Lees, who runs the Foodbank, said: "The main reason people come to us is that they’re in low income jobs. That’s not people who are unemployed; it’s because we don’t pay working people enough to live."

The Foodbank is currently based in the Generation Church in Ruxley Lane, Epsom, but it's just one of five 'satellite' homes, which are needed to feed people all over the borough.

Mr Lees said: "We’ve been told next year to expect a sharp rise in clients, and so we’d love to have a bigger place - a permanent place - so we can store more food."

Surrey Comet:

Left to right: Jonathan Lees, Hilary Coalwood, Andrea Gulland, Mary Batty, Anne Cockram and Brian Cockram 

Mr Lees said one of the biggest obstacles the Foodbank faces is the mistaken public belief that - because of the relevant affluence of Epsom and Ewell - demand is low.

He said: "People have this idea of Epsom being a place with a lot of money, but there are people starving in our community.

"How can that happen in such a nice place?

"Part of the problem is that it’s quite expensive to live here, so if you haven’t got much to start with, you might have to choose between feeding your family and heating your home."

Members of the public can get involved in a number of ways with the Foodbank through the website, epsomewell.foodbank.org.uk, from volunteering to donating food or money.

More than a million people in the UK were given emergency food in the financial year 2014-15, whereas that figure was only 25,000 at the start of the recession.

Foodbanks in the south east fed almost 100,000 people last year, according to the Trussell Trust.