Telford: 'Cost of using oven' drives food bank cereal demand

Parents are feeding their children more cereal to save on fuel bills, Nikki Morrison says

A food bank says users' wariness over cooking amid rising energy bills has prompted demand for more ready-to-eat items.

Nikki Morrison, who runs Hadley Learning Community Food Hub in Telford, said she was initially puzzled by requests for breakfast cereal and milk.

But she said she realised the issue when a parent told her: "I have to think about having my oven on."

And cereal meant meals with no "worry about the cost of electricity".

Ms Morrison said: "It just makes me really sad to think that these are decisions that people are having to make."

The school-based food hub was set up to help pupils and their families

The hub was created at Hadley Learning Community School last year to help pupils and their families.

Ms Morrison explained the hub had adapted to offer more ready-to-eat foodstuffs "because if that's what they're going to eat and if that's what they need to eat then we will try to facilitate that".

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Simon Harris from Citizens Advice in north Staffordshire says he predicts the problems will go "from bad to worse" as bills continue to rise.

He said his centre had seen "huge numbers" of people asking for help.

"We are looking at astronomical increases in fuel bills - that's putting a huge pressure on people already struggling," he explained.

The current estimates are that an average energy bill could be between £2,800 and £3,200 a year from October, with a possible further increase in January.

"Although the government is putting a huge amount of money into it, the problem is massive - the question is whether the support will keep up and at the moment, I think we have to say probably not," Mr Harris said.