INSIDE the doors of a food bank that sits tucked away in a quiet street in Glasgow's East End, Lynn Hutt is in tears.

Lynn, facilities coordinator at Parkhead Nazarene, cannot believe how well stocked the centre is after a delivery from Andrew and Darren Carnegie.

The father and son, who have been campaigning to end poverty for years, are able to help out after they drummed up public support.

Over the past two weekends, families, community groups and individuals have put their hands in their pockets and brought food and toiletries to the Glasgow's Needy food drive in George Square.

They have amassed an astonishing amount of food - from cereals and long-life milk to steak pies and nappies - which will all go to people who cannot afford to put meals on the table.

As the Evening Times van rolls up to their storage centre in Tollcross Road, Darren says we won't believe how much food there is.

When the shutters of the building - which has been loaned to them by the owners of Ruby Murrys Takeaway - roll up, there are piles of bags filled with thousands of pounds worth of food.

"It's unbelievable and overwhelming," Darren says. "We've been trying to sort it out into different sections but there's just so much. This is what Glasgow people have donated in just two weekends."

Darren says the donations have been "thoughtful".

He says: "I was looking through some of the bags and people have donated really thoughtful meals.

"They have remembered about milk or thought to include extras or sweets so they can have a treat.

"It means they want people to have a varied diet.

"It was nice to see the individual cereal packets meant for kids."

After loading up our lorry with bags of food we move to the first stop - the Parkhead Nazarene.

This religious hub has close links with community groups, including Women's Aid and Playbusters, and started providing food packages three years ago for people in need.

A university student who was visiting the centre on placement helped to set up a formal food bank and it now helps around 20 families and individuals a week.

Coordinator Lynn becomes emotional when she opens the door to the men carrying the food bags.

She says: "This helps us so much. This will help the people in the East End who can't afford to eat. I'm in shock that they've come with all this food.

"It will go so far - we are so thankful to the people who donated."

Our next stop is the Everlasting Food Bank in Dennistoun.

Set up a year ago, it is getting busier all the time. Last month they gave out 108 parcels.

Volunteers Mary Halligan and Lewa Thomas help to carry the food donations into the church hall, where they will be sorted.

Lewa said: "We rely on church members for a lot of our donations but they are finding it hard too, so this will really help us. We are getting busier every month."

Mary said: "This is absolutely fabulous, we've never seen so many donations in one go."

FOR the last stop we travel into the city centre to visit homelessness charity The Marie Trust.

From its base near Central Station it offers services to support homeless people and enable them to change their lives.

As part of their service they offer food packages, as well as sleeping bags and extra clothes for people forced to sleep rough. They can be visited by up to 120 people a day.

Fundraiser Catherine Lavery is delighted to see the van roll up - she says it's the equivalent of Christmas when they receive extra donations from the public.

She says: "Our shelves were almost empty, we were running so low. We were recently given food donations from staff at the Bank of Scotland in Argyle Street but that's nearly gone.

"All these shopping bags will give us a really big boost and will help to feed so many people.

"It's like Christmas."

With the van empty Andrew and Darren are heading back to their Tollcross home.

However, the pair will do another collection on Saturday and they want anyone who can't afford to eat, as well as food banks who want donations, to get in touch.

They are also appealing for a permanent van to deliver food.

Darren said: "Poverty is a sad reality and we want to do everything we can to end it. But until then Glasgow's Needy will be there to help people."

Anyone who can help should search for Glasgow's Needy on Facebook or tweet @Darrencarnegie

rachel.loxton@eveningtimes.co.uk