A SHADOW cabinet member helped to pack food parcels for needy families during a visit to a Bradford foodbank today.

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves spoke to volunteers at the Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank.

She visited the foodbank, based at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Shipley Airedale Road, with Labour's candidate for Bradford West, Naz Shah.

Foodbank committee member Keith Thomson said in 2010 they had given out 1,000 food parcels in a year, and now they were giving out almost 1,000 a month.

He blamed the "demonisation of people on benefits" as well as "a vicious sanctions policy".

Mr Thomson taught the pair how to pack a bag with basic items like pasta, tinned soup, cornflakes and milk. They then added an Easter egg to the parcel.

Ms Reeves said seeing the levels of need in Bradford suggested the economic recovery wasn't reaching the city.

Asked whether foodbank numbers were partly up because awareness of them was now much higher, she said: "This foodbank, like others, only gives out food through professionals, like social workers, children's centres or GPs, so you can't just show up."

She said that she wanted to make changes so "one foodbank in Bradford isn't handing out 10,000 food parcels a year".

She said: "It's benefit delays and sanctions, it's people with mental health problems who are being docked the benefits they should be entitled to.

"It's also people in work on very low pay, on insecure zero-hours contracts and such like who are ending up having to go to foodbanks because at the end of the day they don't have enough money to put food on the table."

Labour is pledging to scrap the spare room subsidy, dubbed the Bedroom Tax by critics, as well as raising the minimum wage and clamping down on zero-hours contracts.

Speaking to the T&A, Mr Thomson said Labour's proposals "will help", but said he would also like to see the minimum wage raised to the level of the so-called Living Wage, currently £7.85 an hour.

He said: "I think that would be the way forward."

Labour has only committed to 'promoting' the Living Wage.

Ms Shah said the visit had left her with mixed emotions.

She said: "On one hand, it is really, really disheartening to see how many people are having to rely on foodbanks. That really is quite stark."

But she said in some ways the visit was inspiring as it showed they "have got so much work to do".

Also standing in Bradford West are George Galloway for Respect, George Grant for the Conservatives, Alun Griffiths for the Liberal Democrats, Celia Hickson for the Greens, Mohammed 'Harry' Boota for Ukip and independent candidate James Kirkcaldy.