A FOOD poverty conference held at the weekend has been hailed as ‘extremely successful’.

The conference was organised by the ecumenical group of Christians in Clitheroe, Clitheroe Christians in Partnership (CCP) and the Christian Aid and CAFOD activists in the Ribble Valley.

The groups called the conference, entitled ‘Free a Friend’, to discuss the issue of food poverty in the Ribble Valley and beyond.

Among the speakers at the public event was Ribble Valley Foodbank manager Ruth Haldane, Jim Cook from Clitheroe-based charity The Solomon Project and Rev Andrew Whitehead from St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Clitheroe.

Dave Hardman from Christian Aid and Fred Uttley, a CAFOD volunteer, also spoke at the event which was held at the St Mary’s Centre in Church Street, Clitheroe, on Saturday.

Mrs Haldane said: “More than 70 people came on Saturday and it was an extremely successful event.

“We had speakers talking about the issues in the Ribble Valley and beyond.”

The conference came as the Ribble Valley Food Bank announced it had fed 1,100 people since opening its sites in Clitheroe and Longridge.