FOOD banks are springing up all over the city in response to the growing number of families who can't afford a weekly shop, but the concept of emergency food packages in Notts is not a new one.
The oldest food bank in the city, at the Salvation Army in Notintone Place, Sneinton, has been helping people in need for 41 years.
Phil Johnson, 60, who has worked at Sneinton Salvation Army for 28 years, said: "Since I started working here nearly 30 years ago, there has been a constant demand for our food parcels. We are a Christian organisation and helping people in need is just part and parcel of what we do.
"We do help people struggling with addiction, and homeless people, but over the last few years we have seen more and more families come to us for food.
"Commonly, large families from Eastern Europe turn up. They have come to the UK because they have been told the streets are paved with gold. But the reality is quite different."
He added: "Ultimately, in this situation, it is children who are hungry, and the need is growing. When I first started working here the donations from churches and schools at harvest time would last us nine to ten months, whereas now they only last four to five months."
Beata Polanowska, co-ordinator of Signpost To Polish Success, which supports Eastern Europeans in Notts, has recently been given permission to refer people to the Forest Fields food bank.
She said it is too early to know how many people will need the service but added: "Every now and then there's somebody who's in need and this kind of assistance and help is essential to survive. This resource is vital to them. Perhaps they became sick. They come here to work and they work hard."
In the run-up to Christmas the Post has launched its Five Tons of Tins campaign to boost stocks at Nottingham's food banks. We are asking schools, community groups, churches and businesses to get behind the campaign by placing a collection box in their building.
Major Gareth Dickens, 45, who has worked at the Salvation Army in Sneinton for four years, added: "We hand out around 500 food packages a year, which might help around 1,000 people. Some of the packages are for families of four, five or six people.
"Increasingly we help people who are from working backgrounds who have never needed to ask for help before. I remember one man who was an engineer but developed arthritis in his hands and had to give up work, then fell on hard times and needed a food donation."
The newest food bank in Notts is in Clifton, and runs from Hope Church and St Francis' Church in Farnborough Road. It opened on September 20, and has helped 22 people so far, including seven children.
Co-ordinator Wendy White, 44, said: "Local professionals, like doctors, police and social workers hand out tokens to people who meet the criteria for needing a food parcel. These include being in debt, domestic violence, delayed wages and benefit changes.
"Each food package, which provides for one person for three days, costs £28. All the food is donated by local people, for local people, and there is a clear need in Clifton.
"We need the donations to keep coming in the run-up to Christmas."
To help us collect five tons of tins by Christmas, call Emily Winsor on 0115 905 1952 or e-mail emily.winsor@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk.
Have you been helped by a food bank and would like to tell your story? If so, call Emily on the number above.
