FOOD BANKS across Gwent fed nearly 18,000 people in the last year – 20 per cent of the amount of people using Trussell Trust services across Wales.

The charity announced the shocking figures yesterday, also revealing that the amount of people it fed from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, had reached over 1 million in the UK. In Wales, 85,875 people were fed by Trussell Trust foodbanks in the last year.

Monmouthshire food banks fed 3,668 people in the last year with Chepstow food bank feeding a total of 1,083 people including 759 adults and 324 children. Abergavenny food bank fed 2, 300 people including 1,868 adults and 432 children.

The Monmouth and district food bank fed 285 people including 194 adults and 91 children. The food bank in Ebbw Vale fed 3, 216 people including 2, 177 adults and 1, 039 children.

Newport food banks fed 2,949 in total with 1,815 adults and 1,134 children. Blackwood and district fed 1,043 people including 716 adults and 327 children. Risca food bank fed 1, 285 people including 789 adults and 496 children.

The Eastern Valley Food bank based in Pontnewynydd fed an alarming total of 5,660 people including 3, 375 adults and 2, 285 children.

Adrian Curtis, Trussell Trust UK foodbank director, said: "Despite welcome signs of economic recovery, hunger continues to affect significant numbers of men, women and children in the UK today.

"It’s difficult to be sure of the full extent of the problem as Trussell Trust figures don’t include people who are helped by other food charities or those who feel too ashamed to seek help.

"Trussell Trust foodbanks are increasingly hosting additional services like debt counselling and welfare advice at our foodbanks, which is helping more people out of crisis. The Trussell Trust’s latest figures highlight how vital it is that we all work to prevent and relieve hunger in the UK.

"It’s crucial that we listen to the experiences of people using foodbanks; what people who have gone hungry have to say holds the key to finding the solution."

Councillor Haydn Leslie Trollope, Blaenau Gwent cabinet member for adult social services, said: “I feel in this day and age food banks should not be needed, but we are where we are.

“The need in the Valleys has grown and more and more people are phoning me telling me they are going to food banks due to problems with their benefits.

“There was once a stigma there, but that’s changed because of the necessity."

Martin Hall, a volunteer at Newport food bank, said: "I would say that the figures reflect the reality across the UK.

“In fact where Newport is concerned, since we started in 2013, we have fed just over 4,000 people."