BRADFORD Metropolitan Food Bank has distributed food worth approximately £150,000 this year.

Keith Thomson, the food bank's treasurer, said the response from a range of churches, particularly those in Clayton, Heaton and Wilsden donating on a regular basis and a number of mosques and local Sikh temples, has been particularly good.

"Some 25 schools donated their harvest festival contributions to us and they weren’t just primaries though some are exceptional such as St Walburga's in Shipley and St John's in Bierley and Heaton Primary.

"Titus Salt Secondary and the Girls' Grammar School in Squire Lane have both had two good food-raising sessions each for us. Individual places of work, often council offices , such as the education offices and Shipley Town Hall, have regular collections and the councillors themselves are donating at each of their monthly meetings.

"The Kirkgate Centre excels itself each year with regular collections of food stuffs donated by shoppers and then a very generous donation from the receipts for the wrapping of Christmas presents.

"The collection at the Asda store in Shipley, from Christmas shoppers, produced 63 large boxes of food items and over £150 donated.

"There are some remarkably generous individuals in the district, from the couple who bring a car boot full of food at least once a month, to a lady who read the website and went out and spent many tens of pounds on supplies.

"The most remarkable, though, is the owner of a small corner shop near the centre of Bradford. Each month he visits the cash and carry and brings back a car load of food for us – the supplies he delivered recently must have cost him £300 at least.

"We are less successful with our grant applications as we don’t have the national power of the Trussell Trust food bank franchise, though the Sovereign Health Care charitable arm has been very supportive and doesn’t seem to mind a bid which is in effect a shopping list for basic food items.

"Three years ago a national firm of planners, Turleys, based in Leeds, supported us with financial donations of £5,000 over that period, and they appeared again a few weeks ago, like the Christmas fairy, clutching tins of beans and rice pudding and a cheque for £2,000. The good news is that they have adopted us for another three years.

"Bradford University is in the process of doing an in-depth study of the workings of the food bank, and the need, and it is likely to be one of the first pieces of rigorous research in this field."

Mr Thomson also paid tribute to the food bank's founding committee of seven, from ten years ago.

"They are still beavering away, but now with the help of some 40 volunteers - and all of it is made possible by the RC diocese decision to allow us to use the retired St Marys church rent free," he added.