Mum tells kids they wont get Christmas presents as grim data lifts lid on food crisis

Research from charity The Felix Project found almost a quarter of working parents have turned to emergency food support services in the past year – while 10% have sent kids to school hungry

Almost a quarter of working parents have been forced to turn to emergency food support services in the last year, according to grim new research.

Food redistribution charity The Felix Project found 10% of parents had also sent their child to be hungry at least once a week. And 9% said they had sent their kid to school knowing they were hungry.

The organisation surveyed 4,000 working parents with at least one child at home aged 16 and under. They found 23% have had to use a food bank – including one in four of them using the services every one or two weeks.

Rachel Ledwith, Head of Community at The Felix Project said: “This is a stark picture; to have the proof that children are going to bed hungry on a weekly basis is heartbreaking and to know that without foodbanks so many working people would go hungry demonstrates the need we are facing across every part of society.”

She warned that demand “will grow even more” as we go deeper into winter.

The charity estimates that more than 1.7million parents across the UK has used a foodbank. The Felix Project collects food that would otherwise go to waste and shares it with around 1,200 organisations across London.

These include food banks, homeless shelters, community centres and primary schools. The survey found that 13% of parents who use a food bank had been doing so for more than a year.

The Felix Project is merging with national group FareShare, which gets food to 8,000 charities. Last year it provided the equivalent of 148million meals.

One mum, Edith, from South London who lives with her 16-year-old son, said: “With the rent, paying the bills and all that, by the end of the month, I’m left with basically nothing.”

The school worker said: “I try to live within my salary but it’s very stressful, and sometimes it just doesn’t stretch to the end of the month.”

She said: “I’m not doing any Christmas shopping. I’m not buying presents, because I don’t want to be in debt. So, my children, they know mummy’s not going to buy them anything tangible.”

Another mum, Jane, said she worries about the impact on her son. “He knows that we are struggling, because sometimes he asks for stuff,” she said.

“I will tell him there’s no money now and he says ‘mummy, why are we poor? Mommy? Why is there no money?’ It’s upsetting, I feel I cannot provide for my family, despite the fact I’m working, you just work to pay the bills, and nothing is left at the end of the month”

Rod Williams, managing director of North Wales charity Crest Cooperative, said his team has had to introduce an evening session to meet demand. He said: “We see teachers, nurses, so many who cannot make ends meet. One recent example is a young woman, who works part time, she came into our Food Bank the other day with three children, and she broke down in the shop.

“She was finding it hard to cope with the pressures of Christmas and the holidays coming up and was having to make the decision between food and heating.”