Hundreds of Northumberland children need food aid during holidays
Hundreds of Northumberland children have needed food aid as the summer holidays put pressure on family budgets.
West Northumberland Food Bank has supported 96 families with 207 children during the six-week break.
Through its Back to School Hardship Awards, the bank is helping with the cost of uniform, shoes, PE kit and other essentials for September.
But, the charity says the need for those awards cannot be separated from the wider financial pressure of the preceding summer holidays.
Families are piecing together annual leave, changing shifts, juggling working hours and trying to find childcare that is both affordable and actually covers the working day.
When those arrangements don't stretch across six weeks, parents can be left reducing their hours or turning down work, losing income at the same time as the cost of having children at home increases.
The loss of holiday food vouchers adds another pressure this summer.
These had previously helped households whose children receive free school meals with the additional cost of food during the break.
Eligible children can still access free activities and meals through the Government-funded Holiday Activities and Food programme, but that support is limited.
Chief Executive of West Northumberland Food Bank, Sam Gilchrist said: “Modern family life depends on having enough money, enough time and enough support around you to make everything work.
“When one of those is in short supply, things become harder. When all three are already stretched, six weeks can become almost impossible to absorb.
“By the time September approaches, families haven't simply got a list of uniform to buy. They've had six weeks of everything that came before it.
“When childcare can't be made to fit around work, the summer can cost more at precisely the point at which a parent is able to earn less.”
The wider figures suggest the pressure is reaching households that have previously managed without the food bank's help.
Sam added: “People manage for as long as they can. They cut spending, use savings if they have them, borrow, rely on credit, delay payments and go without themselves.
“There is still an assumption that having a job provides a degree of financial security, but a wage can be coming into a household and still not be enough.