Unlike other cities, such as London and Rome, poverty in Valletta is somewhat out of sight. However, for the food bank tucked away in the city's pretty Old Bakery Street, poverty is a daily reality and, in fact, as time goes by it sees an ever-increasing number of clients opening its doors requiring the basic need that is food.

Smiling, strong-headed and throwing in a witty comment here and there, Reverend Kim Hurst opens the door and welcomes me in to the Food Bank, after walking through a waiting area where a number of people are seated on chairs, waiting to pick up their weekly packages.

The food bank is run by St Andrews' Scots Church and came into being soon after Rev. Hurst became its Minister in 2014. When they first set up the food bank back in 2015, the charity organisation was only getting about eight or 10 people at their door every week but now, two years on, it is almost 10 times that number, with between 60 and 80 families making use of the service on a weekly basis. The food bank provides food supplies for families who are temporarily facing a crisis.

'There are people in Malta struggling to have enough food'

"I started the food bank because we were made aware that there were people in Malta who were struggling to get enough to eat," said the Minister, who believes that the number of people making use of the service has dramatically increased due to both increased exposure and a surge in poverty. "The number of people referred to us has tripled, exactly in the same way as the number of people referred to the Community Chest Fund has tripled. There are more and more people in Malta struggling financially," she said. Although you don't see poverty on the streets in Malta, Rev. Hurst emphasises that it is still there, just currently out of sight.

"You don't see people begging or sleeping on the streets," she said, "the poverty here is more hidden. We are feeding people who do not have a roof over their heads - who do not have a home. They are 'sofa surfing', moving from one sofa to another. We know of people who are living in their car, or at airports and ferry terminals, because they are places that are warm. So, they are not sleeping on the streets in Malta - yet."

Rev. Hurst sees the rise in rent prices as one of the reasons why the food bank is getting more and more clients. "In the past two years, rentals have doubled," she said. "Many people are moving back with their parents, relationships are put under pressure - it is not an ideal situation," she said, also noting that "without an address you cannot get an ID card and without an ID card you cannot get benefits."

The aim of the food bank is to help 'fill the gaps' during periods when people cannot afford to buy food themselves, such as during the waiting time when applying for benefits or getting your first salary after you start going off benefits. "There are gaps," she said, "and we fill them."

People who are receiving food packages from the food bank are referred through organisations that help people in crisis, such as Appogg, and they are usually provided with supplies for six weeks. However, each situation is decided separately, and this period can be prolonged, depending on the situation and with the knowledge that the clients want to help themselves and improve their situation.

If there was just a small need for people to be given food, then churches would be able to help the people around them, "but it has become overwhelming," said Rev. Hurst, adding that many social workers were visiting people's homes, opening the fridge and seeing that there was no food for the family to eat.

"We want to make sure that we are here for situations like that," she said.

How much food does the food bank provide?

Although she believes more people tend to come during the winter months, the Rev. Hurst does not think there is much of a fluctuation from one season to the next. "At the moment, we hand out just over €2,000 worth of food a week, sometimes more," she said. Since its doors have been open, the food bank has handed out over €100,000 worth of food for over 10,000 people.

Rev. Hurst said that January this year saw double the number of clients compared to last year, and there has also been an increase in the past few months. Indeed, the number definitely does not seem to be going down. "This year the figures are more than double what they were in 2016," she said, comparing the two as they are the two full years during which the food bank has been functioning.

Each food package can provide food for a family for up to a week

The food bank provides four different types of packs: packs to help people who are living without a roof over their head and others for a single individual, a couple or a family. The pack for those people who do not have a home in which to cook consists of food which can be cooked without having access to cooking facilities.

In each pack of food, there is enough to be able to feed the family for a week if they are able to add things like bread, tomatoes and onions themselves. The pack includes oil, tea or coffee, breakfast cereal, jam, meat, fish, tomatoes, vegetables and fruit.

Families come from all over Malta and Gozo seeking help

People benefitting from the food bank come from all over the country, including the north and south of the island and even Gozo. In fact, the organisers are planning to introduce a new distribution centre in the south of Malta in the coming year. Volunteers and a location for the centre are in place. "What we need, though, is to know that food will be coming in, in order to keep the distribution point flowing," said Rev. Hurst.

The team is also looking into eventually opening a distribution point in the north of the island.

How can each one of us help?

One of the initiatives Rev. Hurst and her team are working on is to have collection points at supermarkets, such as those already present at Value Supermarket in Naxxar and Mellieħa. Using such schemes, shoppers can simply buy an extra item and put it in the collection box, from where it will be delivered to the food bank.

Rev. Hurst spoke of people who have taken it upon themselves to help the food bank. "There is a group of friends who meet for coffee once a month and whenever they meet up, they each bring an item, put them all in a box and bring them here," she said.

Another idea currently being encouraged by the food bank is the reverse advent calendar, encouraging people to fill a box with food products - one for each day in December up to Christmas. The box can then be delivered to the food bank. "When your Christmas is all over, thanks to you their Christmas is only just beginning," the poster promoting the initiative reads. Every item put in the reverse calendar will make an emergency food parcel for those in desperate need.

Rev. Hurst and her volunteers are also talking to children in schools about the initiative. Food donations can be delivered to 210 Old Bakery Street, Valletta or, when closed, to the box office at Embassy cinemas. Monetary donations can also be made on the website thefoodbank.webs.com.

Rev. Hurst can be contacted at kim.hurst@methodist.org.uk