A food redistribution charity called for more donations as it officially opened a warehouse in Ipswich today. 

FareShare's 10,000sq ft shed at Ransomes Europark - which includes a 25m sq freezer as well as a cold store - could take up to three times the amount of food it is holding currently, it said.

It is one of 35 regional FareShare hubs around the country and was officially launched by Ipswich's deputy mayor Lynne Mortimer.

The Reverend Lawrence Carey of the Triangle Church, Ipswich - who runs Ipswich Top Up Shops - said there was high demand for food donations.

"There's very real food poverty in Ipswich and there are various ways to address that," he said. "There's lots and lots of demand out there at the moment."

Support for the FareShare charity in Ipswich was growing said FareShare East regional manager Mike Barrett. They had about 16 drivers and "massive support" from the rest of the team of staff and volunteers, as well as from local companies. The team was doing "a brilliant job", he said.

"There's a lot of work going on in Suffolk about food poverty," he said. 

Rev Lawrence Carey, Oliver Paul and Mike Barrett (Image: Sarah Chambers)

Last year the charity gave out 685t or 1.6m meals, he added.

Chief operating officer Kris Gibbon-Walsh said the charity didn't just connect surplus food with hungry people - it also supported people around food and helped combat loneliness.

"This place could be thee times as full and still be able to run," he said. "We could do with loads more food."

The move to the site from a much smaller warehouse down the road was made possible through a grant from Comic Relief, he said.

Deputy lieutenant of Suffolk Oliver Paul said Suffolk coast farming co-operative Three Musketeers started a pilot last winter to supply potatoes for the Top Up shops and they were looking at the logistics of extending this for other crops. It has been led by Debach Enterprises managing director Bee Kemball.

FareShare warehouse worker Chris Hutchings in the cold store (Image: Sarah Chambers)