Last December, the region’s foodbanks fed more than 1,000 people – including hundreds of children – and demand this year is expected to drive that figure far higher

The papers are asking readers to donate food from the shopping list which will support the charity’s vital work to make sure no one has to go hungry, this Christmas or beyond

Grant Habershon, project manager at Norwich Foodbank, the largest of our region’s nine foodbanks, said even a small donation – picking up an extra item in the weekly shop – had the power to make a difference to the thousands of adults and children in crisis

“The basic principle is to help a neighbour in need,” he said. “The people who come to us are those who have fallen through the safety net, for whatever reason that may be. Our emergency food boxes give them the urgent help they need while support agencies sort out their problems”

All the people foodbanks help have been referred there by trained professionals – they cannot simply turn up to claim food. Whatever the reasons behind their need, they are all proud people who do not want to ask for help but have nowhere else to turn

“They are people who may have suffered a sudden bereavement, illness or redundancy, or whose benefits have been changed or delayed – but all of them are in crisis,” said Mr Habershon

Foodbanks work with partners including the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Probation Service and Norfolk County Council, and charities like Age UK or Leeway, who identify people in desperate need and refer them to the foodbank

By taking away their most pressing concern – the need for food – the foodbanks free up care agencies to find solutions to each client’s problems

You can play your part by buying an additional tin at the supermarket, or handing over the extra packet in a two-for-one offer. All of it will go to helping people in need in your community

Nigel Pickover, editor of the Eastern Daily Press and Evening News, urged readers to play their part: “Foodbanks are a sign of the strength of our communities in action: people working together to help those less fortunate than them,” he said. “Many people and families, some of them our neighbours, are facing times when they do not know where their next meal is coming from

“Your donation to our EDP Foodbank Appeal can be the difference between a family having food on the table on Christmas Day, or going hungry”