A CHARITY marking its 20th anniversary said it is 'busier than ever' helping people in need.

Maundy Relief, based in Accrington, marked 20 years helping people in the area this week but staff said demand is increasing to worryingly high levels.

Lucy Hardwick, manager at the Abbey Street service, said they are becoming more stretched than ever helping people in need.

In the past year they have seen the number of food parcels supplied go up by nearly a third.

She said: "We are very busy, busier than we ever have been during my time here.

"We're offering more services like home visits to people in need.

"We're seeing almost double the number of people to what we were five years ago.

"The number of food parcels has probably gone up by about 30 per cent in total in the last year.

"There are a lot more complex issues, we try and look at the person as a whole rather than one little bit."

She said services like Maundy Relief are 'vital' to give people the support the need in modern times given financial difficulties.

The charity offers counselling and advisory services, home visits, a lunchtime sitting at around 1pm, food parcels and more.

Volunteers said 'all sorts of people' come to them to use the service, from homeless people to families struggling financially.

Around 60 volunteers help to run the service across all the different departments and serve more than 1,000 people each week.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary the charity held an open day on Thursday featuring tours of the charity and a remembrance service.

The charity was founded in 1998 by Sister Dorothy McGregor, the Reverend Len Singleton and Alan Freeman and has become known for its work with the homeless.

Mrs Hardwick paid tribute to the work of the volunteers at the service and said it would not be able to keep going without them.

She said: "I think it's a fantastic achievement to get to this point and we've got to carry on supporting the local community.

"I think at the moment service like this are increasingly important with the lack of support from other sectors, it's important people have somewhere to go to get the help they need.

"We're seeing more people, we're giving more advice and more counselling, we're offering more services than before.

"I just have to thank the volunteers, they help out all across the service, in the kitchen, with counselling, and we couldn't have reached this point without them."

Hyndburn Council leader Cllr Miles Parkinson praised the work the charity does in the area.

He said: "They do valuable work for the most vulnerable in society, especially in Hyndburn.

"One would like to think we could get to the point where we don't need services like this, we're one of the richest countries in the world.

"However that is not the case, and with the austerity and the cuts to keep on coming under the Tory government, it means the help they give is so important and is much needed."