Hereford food bank looking to continue to support families through summer holiday period

Charity Fareshare say a growing number of parents in the West Midlands are struggling to feed their children through the six-week break.

Author: Elliot BurrowPublished 21st Aug 2024

A food bank based in Herefordshire says it's important children can still access the food and supplies they need through the summer holidays.

It's after figures released from charity Fareshare showed around half of children in parts of the West Midlands are going hungry during the six-week break.

Herefordshire Council announced last month over 4,700 Herefordshire children were set to receive free food vouchers for the school holidays to help.

Manager of Hereford food bank Helen Parker says it's vital people work together to continue to tackle the issue.

"I think it is really important that the support is there," she said.

"With the school holidays, there's not the same structure, they're not getting fed at school, they're not having the snacks.

"Children that are entitled to free school meals are given a voucher through the schools, so it's quite encouraging that families are using those for food during July, it's now in August that we start to spike again in terms of demand.

"During the summer we will send extra for children in our parcels, and we're sending extra milk and things like that because we're very aware if they're not getting the school meals, they might be missing out."

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