Last year at least 25,000 food parcels were distributed by around 25 food banks which operate in different communities across Lancashire.

The numbers have risen rapidly over recent years as economic hardship has hit the region. Unemployment together with low and stagnant wages means that many families have the choice between eating and heating.

Some of the foodbanks report people who refuse to take items such as pasta because they need to be cooked – they may not even have cooking equipment at home, or if they do they can't afford the gas.

The response to this growing crisis by the food bank movement has been magnificent. Projects have now been set up in every district of the county, mostly led by churches and other faith communities and supported by donations from thousands of the warm hearted and generous people of Lancashire.

Most of us realise that ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ - and respond to human need when we see it. It is the self-organising genius which David Cameron until recently called ‘The Big Society’ at work.

Yet even,when need is genuine, as in the vast majority of cases, charity on its own can never solve deeper problems and change people's lives.

Thankfully most of the food banks realize this and try to get to know people personally. A listening ear over a cuppa is just the first stage and that can often bring comfort.

The next stage is to signpost people to other services and projects that help address other parts of complex problems, housing advice, debt counselling, parenting skills, drug and alcohol services, work clubs.

The churches and faith groups in particular are well placed to do this as they are at the heart of a network of such agencies. Additionally when asked they can also offer prayer and spiritual support.

Christians have long seen the church community, and society as a whole, as a single body, in which all persons are members of equal dignity and worth. So action must continue to go beyond the individual level if we are to end the scourge of food poverty in our county and country.

Greg Smith – Together Lancashire