Families who have never used foodbanks before seeking help in York
York Foodbank says the pandemic has put a strain on finances. A petition to end child food poverty is being debated in Parliament later.
Campaigners in York are calling for justice as a movement to end child food poverty is debated in Parliament later.
A petition, calling for an expansion of access to Free School Meals, activities during holidays to stop holiday hunger and an increase in the value of the Healthy Start scheme, has reached over a million signatures.
Adam Raffell is the Development Coordinator at York Foodbank and says people are still coming to them in need: "This year we've still seen a lot of people coming into the sessions we run. It's clear that a lot of people have been badly affected by the pandemic.
"Obviously we don't want anyone to have to use a foodbank, but we want to make sure people can access what they need so that they can stand on their own two feet, but it's a challenge. A lot of people's work has been affected, and there have been disrupted flows of income.
"The number of people who say to me that they've never been in this situation before and that they never thought they'd be here; it's wonderful that we're able to help them, but we know that that's not where they want to be, and it's really not right.
"The other trend we've seen over the past year is the increase in the number of families with young children who've had to turn to us. We still find that in most cases we're not seeing repeat visits - it's that emergency moment where people need help.
"It's really important that this is on the agenda during the debate in Parliament; the Trussell Trust is calling for the scope of Free School Meals to be increased for people on Universal Credit. These are all gaps that need plugging if we don't want to see people being swept into poverty long term".