Covid poverty: 'You either have sanitary pads or a loaf of bread'

Food donations are being stored and distributed from a sports hall in Beeston

People plunged into poverty as a result of the pandemic are having to choose between buying a loaf of bread or sanitary pads, a charity has said.

Freedom4Girls, which tackles period poverty in Leeds, said it was now giving out food as well as period products due to increasing need.

Tina Leslie, from the charity, said: "The situation has become untenable."

Leeds City Council said it had put aside £1.6m to support families in need.

Ms Leslie said they were delivering thousands of period products and other items every month because people's situations had declined due to Covid-19.

Tina Leslie has been delivering food and other items as well as period products

"The poverty in Leeds is getting worse. People have lost their jobs now.

"We have homeless people, normal everyday people, the new financially insecure. People who just cannot make ends meet.

"It's either you have pads or you have a loaf of bread. It's that bad at the moment."

• 'We go hungry so we can feed our children'

• 'I wake up wondering if I still have a job'

• Read more stories from across Yorkshire

Other charities in Leeds said they had also seen a huge rise in people needing help since March.

Raheem Mohammad, from the Hamara Centre, said: "We're seeing families that are normally working.

"It could be that their welfares have been delayed, it could be that their partner has been laid off their job, they could be on zero-hour contracts previously."

In Chapeltown, Hawa Bah, from the Guinean Community Group, has been supporting families and said people had been queuing outside her home for food.

"The more you talk to people the more you find out that they are really destitute."

Hawa Bah said she had heard some heartbreaking stories of people's struggles

Councillor Fiona Venner, Leeds council executive member for children and families, said: "Feeding children should not be the work of charities.

"The council needs to get more funding from central government so we can properly support families in need."

The Department for Work and Pensions said it had provided a £400m package of "support for this winter and beyond, including £170m to help families stay warm and well fed" and money to support food aid charities.

• SOCIAL DISTANCING: What are the rules now?

• FACE MASKS: When do I need to wear one?

• TESTING: What tests are available?

• SYMPTOMS: What are they and how to guard against them?

• LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or send video here.