Birmingham mosques hand out food parcels amid rising demand

Staff at Masjid Al Falaah say more people are seeking their help as energy prices rise

Hundreds of food parcels are being handed out by two mosques in Birmingham who say they have seen an increase in calls for help.

Masjid Al Falaah and Green Lane Masjid are giving out the packs on Friday and Saturday.

Both say they have seen a rise in demand for their community schemes.

"The energy price rise is now forcing people to choose between eating and heating," said Adil Parkar, general secretary of Masjid Al Falaah.

Adil Parkar said the rise in energy prices were forcing people to rely on food banks

"It's heartbreaking to understand and to see so many families struggling to just put food on the table," he added.

"We've seen so many people coming to the door just asking for food, it makes the heart bleed."

"Our efforts with the food parcels will hopefully answer that conundrum for some of the families."

The organisations are working with Islamic Relief UK and hope to hand out parcels to more than 1,000 people over the two days.

Kevin Warrington from Bethany Food Bank says joining resources helps everybody

A local food bank is also providing food for the scheme and also helping to deliver the finished bags.

Kevin Warrington said joining with the mosques "really does help tremendously."

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Muhammad Ali, from Green Lane Masjid, says it was "very concerning" their food bank service had seen a 60% rise in users over the past 15 months with a further increase of 30% in the past six weeks.

"That is shocking statistics," he said.

"It is disheartening to see poverty on your doorstep but we are at an advantage to be able to support," he said.