Food banks see 'crazy' demand in school holidays

Shakur Hussain said his charity has seen a massive increase in demand

The boss of a charity which provides food to those in need has said demand for its services has skyrocketed in the first weeks of the school summer holidays.

Shakur Hussain, chairman of Manchester-based charity Rainbow Surprise, said it had been inundated with requests for help in the last two weeks.

He said up to 200 families a week were being referred to the Crumpsall-based service, up from about 50 per week before the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Hussain said: "I've seen people that I've known for years and years - they've been working all their life and they've started coming to our services."

Mr Hussain said it could be really difficult for people, especially those who had not used the service before, to come forward to get the support they need due to a perceived stigma.

"Just to admit that as well is so hard for families because specially if they've been working all their life and they want to keep their dignity," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

"You've got to find a perfect balance to speak to people and just see how you can help them."

'So many factors'

National charity FareShare supplies donated food to local charities and organisations including Rainbow Surprise.

It said there was demand for it to provide an extra 400,000 meals across the UK compared to last year in the first two weeks of the holidays alone.

Karina Tiplady, from the charity's Manchester branch, said families were under added strain in the summer holidays without the support from schools.

Karina Tiplady says there are a range of factors that resulted in the spike in demand

She added: "It isn't just food that people are now struggling with.

"We've gone from Covid to rent increases, food increases, there's so many different factors as well as people's personal circumstances.

"You're really, really lucky if one of those hasn't yet affected you."