Salvation Army expecting huge demand for food during holidays

Lieutenant Colonel Dean Pallant said "short-term measures only provide a temporary sticking plaster on a long-term crisis"

A charity has warned there is "unprecedented" demand from families needing help with food during the school holidays.

The Salvation Army says it has seen a growing number of children being referred.

Over the summer, the charity is expecting to provide thousands of cooked meals to children.

And one Swindon mother, who fled an abusive relationship, said her children were hungry "all day long".

She said this was because they did not have access to school meals during the holidays.

"Though my children are entitled to food vouchers, the amount has been halved despite prices going up," she added.

"I've worked out I am £165 short every month, and that's just for my bills. I'll go several times a week without a main dinner and just having beans on toast for breakfast. I don't care about myself as long as my children eat."

The charity has more than 600 locations around the UK

The cost of living crisis has resulted in a surge of people seeking help from food banks, and emergency payments from the government will be offered to some households to help with rising energy bills.

The charity's Lieutenant Colonel Dean Pallant said: "When I hear Salvation Army officers report that 'people are on the bones of their knees' and they have seen children who are 'anorexically thin' it sounds like something from 1865, when the Salvation Army was founded, not 2022.

"We are now braced to feed more children than ever over the next few weeks."

Carol McKean, one of the charity's community managers in Sheringham, Norfolk, added she had constantly heard the phrase "I've never had to claim benefits before" from anxious parents "who look broken asking for help".

"I know that, for these people, we are the last resort. They really are short of food for their kids, and some are saying they haven't eaten for a couple of days so their kids can eat," she added.