Foodbank to open first hub in north Glasgow

Controversial foodbank Glasgow’s Needy has opened its first hub in Glasgow.

Organisers say the facility, in Colston Milton Church in the north of the city, is the first of many to be created by the organisation.

The group, run by father and son team Andrew and Darren Carnegie, is not a registered charity and has come under growing pressure to be more transparent in the way it operates.

Andrew Carnegie said the hub was one way of addressing the organisation’s critics.

He added: “We won’t let small minded people attack us.

“We will set these hubs up all over Glasgow. There will be no payments, no profits and no funding. It will all be community-based.”

Last week TFN exclusively revealed how growing tensions between Glasgow’s Needy and Greater Maryhill Foodbank, the city’s biggest, had broken out into a public spat.

However, Julie Webster, founder of Greater Maryhill foodbank, told TFN she backed the opening of the hub.

“We’ve been covering the Milton area with our operation so this new hub alleviates that need for us,” she said.

“We don’t have problems with anyone opening foodbanks in the north of Glasgow. A lot been said about rivalries brewing but we’re here to help poor people. I don’t care how that happens.

“As long as they are supported.”

Meanwhile the Carnegies are calling on supporters to donate selection boxes and presents ahead of a Christmas day party the organisation plans for George Square.