SOME 260 items – or five large boxes – of food have been collected by Two Rivers Housing Association for Forest Foodbank.

Over two weeks staff brought in donations of sweet and savoury food in tins, packets and cartons to be distributed to people living below the breadline across the Forest of Dean.

Two of Two Rivers’ external contractors – Keepmoat and United Living – also donated.

Ruth Macdonald, who works in the planned maintenance department at Two Rivers, organised the collection. She said: “More and more people are turning to foodbanks for help and we know some of our tenants struggle to make a choice between heating and eating. This is likely to get worse during the winter months so we hope our contribution will make things a little easier.”

The Review reported last month that a Forest Foodbank project worker said they were in urgent need of donations as they can not keep up with demand.