William and Kate help parcel up donations on visit to Windsor food bank

The Prince and Princess of Wales have been helping volunteers sort through donations at a food bank in Windsor today (26 January).

William and Kate helped volunteers at Windsor Foodshare to prepare packages for the charity's clients to collect.

Food bank manager Sarah Kember said: "They were so interested in what we were doing, which was really nice.

"And the fact we are in their local area, they gave us so many lovely compliments. It was lovely."Their Royal Highnesses heard from the charity about the impact that the rising cost of living has had on the demand for the service.

In 2022 the charity helped to feed over 7,000 local residents, an increase of 18% from the previous year's support.

It means that on average 150 people receive food per week from Windsor Foodshare.

Sarah Kember said: "They're not being able to afford to eat, they're not being able to afford to feed their families.

"Without food banks, I don't know how people would cope.

"We haven't all got family that we can ask for help, they haven't got savings and that kind of thing, so they are needing to ask us for help."

Windsor Foodshare provides short-term weekly help in the form of food parcels containing ambient foods, bread, eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables to any local household where there is a likelihood of an individual or family going hungry due to a lack of funds.

It operates on a referral basis from places such as schools, doctors, social services, churches and community wardens.

Toiletries and cleaning products are also provided on a monthly basis.

When asked how the royal visitors did when it came to sorting through donations, manager Ms Kember said: "One was better than the other, but I won't say which!"