North East charity adapts contents of food boxes amid energy fears

Volunteer packs food boxes ready to be distributed to families in need

A North East charity which supplies emergency food parcels says increasing energy prices have led to calls for items which do not need cooking.

Feeding Families says the cost-of-living crisis has forced it to adapt the contents of its parcels.

It says many vulnerable people are worried about heating up basic meals because of rising energy bills.

Household gas and electricity bills are set rise by 80% to £3,549 a year from next month.

The charity assembles emergency food boxes for about 1,000 people every month at its two packing centres in Spennymoor and Blaydon.

The boxes contain enough to support up to two people for three days.

Chief executive Juliet Sanders is concerned some people worry about heating up a meal

Feeding Families' chief executive, Juliet Sanders, said: "My concern is that people can't even cook a hot meal - even warming something up is a stress and a worry to a lot of people.

"We've never had to take that into account before, that people couldn't heat it up and couldn't cook it."

An additional pressure facing the charity is the sharp increase in the consumer price index - now at 10.1% for the first time since 1982.

It has led to rapid increases in the cost of many groceries including the charity's staples such as UHT milk, cereals and tinned foods.

Unlike a food bank, Feeding Families works with organisations such as hospitals, GP surgeries, social services and schools to provide food to families who might otherwise go hungry.

The Blaydon-based charity distributes emergency food boxes across the North East of England

Operations manager Steve Sheard said: "We have long-life fruit that's ready to eat, noodles and packets of soup that just need water from a kettle, along with packets of biscuits.

"[It is] food that's all edible at room temperature or by boiling a kettle."

Ms Sanders added: "We expect the charity to grow and expect for demand to increase.. which has combined with the perfect storm of donations going down.

"The gap in the middle is widening between what's needed and what we've got to give."