Thank goodness for foodbanks, says Duchess of Cornwall

The Duchess of Cornwall has thanked volunteers at a food bank, telling them: "Thank goodness people like you are around."

As she was shown around the Fitzjohn’s foodbank in Lewes, East Sussex, the Duchess expressed surprise that such a relatively affluent town needed such a service.

"Goodness, I’m very surprised, having lived here all my young life," she said. "I thought Lewes sounded an unusual place for a foodbank, but it just goes to show."

She told the volunteers it was a "treat" to be back in the area, having grown up in the village of Plumpton, just six miles away.

Earlier, the Duchess hailed Britain’s pharmacists as unsung heroes of the pandemic during a visit to a chain founded by Ugandan Asian refugees.

She thanked pharmacists and support staff for staying open when many services closed and heard tales of how tough it had been for some facing the wrath of angry, panic-stricken customers during lockdowns.

"I’ve been told by many people that at times it’s been difficult but you’ve struggled through it and given a wonderful service too. So thank you very much indeed," she told staff.

The visits marked the Duchess’s first official engagements in East Sussex since May 2019. She travelled by train from London Victoria to Haywards Heath, thought to be the first time a member of the Royal family has travelled on a regular passenger train service since the beginning of pandemic.

"I’m absolutely delighted to be here. Sussex is where I was brought up," she told members of the Chotai family, which founded the chain of 77 pharmacies employing 1,000 people across Britain in Uckfield in 1979 after fleeing Uganda.

Mark Donaghy, a pharmacist and professional development manager at the chain, told the Duchess their workload had increased three-fold overnight at the start of lockdown as patients rushed to get medication, fearing it would run out. He also said customers had taken out their anger and anxieties on staff.

During the visit she toured the company’s 15,000 square metre automated warehouse, which from April to October runs solely on solar energy generated from 925 panels in the building.

She was also shown how the warehouse team has moved from a manual to an automated system, with the first installation in Britain of Weasel robots which move pharmaceutical drugs around the building.

"This is an extraordinary place," she said. "It’s like a fairground ride."

At Fitzjohn’s, based at Christ Church just outside the town centre, the Duchess heard how the foodbank catered for around 49 households per week, with between 15 and 25 per cent more people using the service during the pandemic, many of whom have lost their jobs.

The Duchess was shown through the church by Roz Bassford, chair of the foodbank, who told her they had "not had to buy a tin of beans for a year" thanks to the generosity of the local community and the regular action food drives.

She also met Tracy Cheeseman, who volunteers for the foodbank but has also used the service herself on and off for several years.

Ms Cheeseman, one of the Lewes Mayor’s Covid Heroes, explained which ingredients go into the bags each week, telling the Duchess that for Easter some extra vouchers were being added, which the Duchess said was "wonderful, a lovely idea".

"Thank goodness people like you are around," the Duchess told her.

The Duchess also met Belinda Crawford, a trustee and volunteer from the Lewes Open Door charity, which runs a weekly lunchtime drop-in from the church for local homeless and vulnerable people.

"Thank you all for the brilliant job you are doing here," the Duchess told them. "I can see the work here has been absolutely invaluable.

"I’m so glad I could come and see you all. It’s always a treat to come back to Sussex."

Neil Fisher, the church secretary, gave the Duchess a church leaflet as a memento. He told her that the work undertaken by the volunteers was "so necessary, especially in these times and even in an apparently prosperous town such as Lewes".