It's horrible for the folks we have to help

FOODBANK CHIEF ON STRUGGLE FOR FAMILIES AS CHARITY REVEALS IT HAS GIVEN OUT 138,000 PARCELS IN A YEAR

-  BETH ABBIT

THE number of emergency food parcels handed out to hungry families across Greater Manchester has almost doubled in the last five years.

The Trussell Trust distributed 138,347 aid packages in our region in the year to March. That compares to the 70,831 between April 2017 and March 2018 - a 95 per cent increase. The figures include all boroughs but Bury, as the charity has no foodbank there.

As the cost of living crisis bites, bosses at the charity say an increasing number of people are being left with no option but to turn to charity to get by.

And the most recent figures also show the level of need was greater than during the first year of the pandemic.

Charity bosses say the level of need across the network is 'far outstripping the donations that we've been receiving, meaning food banks are having to purchase more food themselves and source more warehouse space to store it.

The charity said food banks are also having to extend their opening hours to accommodate employed people who need to access their emergency support around their working patterns.