Food banks in Scotland are gearing up for their busiest Christmas yet.

According to food aid charity The Trussell Trust, more people than ever are expected to visit food banks this December.

They say the roll-out of Universal Credit and cuts to other benefits are partly to blame for heaping pressure on people already in crisis, leaving them facing hunger this festive season.

In Glasgow, a small team of volunteers created their own independent food bank in a bid to feed their community.

The Queens Park Govanhill Food Bank now feeds around 30 people each week, which volunteers say is a significant increase on the numbers they saw when they opened five years ago.

"When I retired and had some free time I thought I should give something back. That's when I started coming here" volunteer Wendy Bradley said.

"But recently, I've noticed we're getting busier. On average, we have around 30 people collecting from us each week."

The volunteers meet every Thursday and hand out parcels of food to anyone who comes along. Visitors don't need to be referred and there's no limit to how many times they can take a package each year.

"We don't ask any questions" said Wendy.

One visitor spoke to us anonymously, because he didn't want his family to find out he'd fallen on hard times.

"Without this food bank I'd go hungry" he said.

"I come here every week and they're very helpful.

"They make sure I'm fed and watered and give me everything I need."

This week, the team handed out their usual parcels with the added extra of a three-course Christmas dinner.

At the moment, the food bank is full. But according to Wendy, that's not always the case.

"We get a lot of donations at Christmas time so we're quite full at the moment.

"But the number of people relying on us is rising, and sometimes we really struggle to meet demand."

The food bank relies solely on donations from local people, businesses and schools.

According to SNP MSP Mhari Black, the rising numbers of food bank users is an "absolute disgrace".

She said: "We know from The Trussell Trust's statistics that benefit delays and changes make up the biggest portion of reasons why people are referred to food banks.

"In particular, referrals due to problems with Universal Credit rose 15% compared to the same period last year.

"The heart-wrenching stories behind each and every number should give this Tory government cause to halt their ideologically-driven austerity agenda and restore value and support to the social security system."