Charity feels impact of drop in volunteers

Michelle King, chair of Little Miracles said the charity had struggled with a decrease in volunteers this year

A charity supporting families of children with special needs said it had seen a "drop in donations and volunteers".

Little Miracles helps families across Peterborough and surrounding areas with advice, support, activities, training and food parcels.

Michelle King, charity chairperson, said Christmas was its "busiest time" of the year with nearly 5,000 people being supported over the festive period.

"We are still seeing a lot of families who are struggling this year- maybe numbers are worse," Ms king said.

The charity offers extra support at Christmas

More than 150 festive food parcels were prepared this week as part of the charity's Christmas support, with hundreds more in progress.

The charity said cost of living had hit families hard.

"We are getting a lot of requests for food parcels. And these are coming from families were both the parents are working."

Kiora Laura said she enjoyed her time working with a "dedicated" team of volunteers

Delivery driver, Kiora Laura, 47, has been a part-time volunteer with Little Miracles.

She is training to work with families with children with special educational needs.

Ms Laura said: "It's the highlight of my week. But, it's challenging and there's lots to do and learn for me."

The charity said it tried help anyone who needed its support.

Ms King added: "We don't near have the amount of volunteers we had last year and there's been a significant drop in monetary donations.

"It could be that as a result of the living crisis, more people are taking on second jobs and don't have the spare time.

"Also, we need to train our volunteers which takes time . So a number of factors are impacting the situation negatively."