Manchester charity's food bill increases nearly 2000% to cope with demand
Mustard Tree are seeking regular financial donations
A homelessness charity in Greater Manchester has had to raise their food budget by nearly 2000% to keep up with the amount of people who need their services.
Mustard Tree's previous budget before Covid was ÂŁ24,000 per year - now at its highest point of demand - its at ÂŁ38,000 per month.
The charity is on a mission to tackle poverty and homelessness and provides a variety of services across the area.
This includes a food hub for those struggling to afford regular meals, training in culinary and customer service skills as well as English language and art lessons.
We spoke to their Communications Manager Jack Barton: "There's more and more people struggling financially - either in debt, struggling with budgeting issues, high bills, increasing rent.
"More and more people are being pushed under the poverty line at the moment.
"There's a big, big demand in services at the moment - we're seeing 10,000 people through our doors every single month.
"What we've found is that since the pandemic - this emergency just isn't going away."
Their Food Hub Manager Chris Davies added: "Everything's going through the roof - we're trying to support over 100 people a day that can't access food from supermarkets.
"What we're ordering today isn't necessarily the price we're going to pay tomorrow so we're getting less for our money but its costing us more.
"We're servicing less people now because we can't afford the food."
The charity is reaching out for more donations from the public in order to stay open.
One of the ways they're inviting the public for help is through their 'High Fivers' campaign - asking people to make a regular donation of 5 pounds per month.
You can donate to Mustard Tree's 'High Fivers' campaign by clicking here.