Melanie Knight is a trustee of the Redbridge Foodbank that last week launched a reverse advent calendar to help struggling residents through the Christmas period.

What is your connection with Redbridge?

I have lived in Redbridge pretty much my entire life.

What’s the best thing about working or living in Redbridge?

It’s a place of great variety with many different and vibrant communities. This means there are always interesting people to meet and get to know.

Through volunteering at the Foodbank I get to work with many great people of all ages and backgrounds that I would not have met under other circumstances.

What one thing would you change about the borough?

I would introduce domestic recycling of food waste, preferably to generate power.

Use three words to describe the borough.

Positive. Busy. Interesting.

Who is the most inspiring person you know?

I can’t single out just one person but I am often humbled by how positive many of our Foodbank clients are, even when facing fairly major personal and family difficulties. They can still smile and look on the bright side of life!

What new law would you introduce if you were prime minister?

Can I have two laws? Firstly I would standardise rules and somehow support the recycling industry to make it easier for people to recycle and increase the amount of rubbish we recycle as a country.

I would also pass a law to force manufacturers to put food expiry dates in exactly the same place on all packaging.

If you’re a volunteer at a Foodbank or similar organisation you’ll know where I am coming from with this!

If you were the editor of this paper, what issues in the borough would you focus on?

So many things! Traffic pollution around schools. Supporting local businesses on the high street.Proliferation of fast food shops and betting shops.

The need for social housing, we need more but it has to also be good quality so communities feel like they have been invested in.

The situation of those needing the Foodbank’s support of course........