Almost half of British families with disabled children have run out of foodin the past 12 months without the money to buy more, a bombshell new report reveals.
The figures from anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust also reveal just over a third of all UK families with children have found themselves in the same situation.
Trussell, which operates around 1,400 food banks across the country, warns that the number of people forced to use their services is set to grow further.
Among the parents in that position now is Deirdre, a former teacher and single mum of two from Belfast.
She told Metro the additional costs resulting from her son Niall’s autism have put pressure on the family finances.
He will not eat certain foods provided in free school meals, so she must buy him food he will accept, and he cannot take the bus to school, meaning she must pay for taxis – which are £15 each way.
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Deirdre said: ‘Everybody, including the working poor, is finding that managing the food costs of a child with a disability – and that could mean physical, mental health, autism, or ADHD – is extremely costly.
‘There’s no two ways about it, and it’s extreme pressure on families.
‘And if you think we’re coming up to Christmas here, we’re coming up to colder months. You know, people are saying heat or eat.’
It has meant she has had to rely on food banks for big meals at Christmas and Easter, or to be able to afford expenses like sending her kids away on school trips.
She said: ‘I was contacting food banks and saying to them, “I can’t free up any money here, and in order to do that, I’m going to have to ask for help for food.”
‘And you just be honest with them, and they can relate because they see it all the time.
‘It’s terrible that in order for your child not to develop the stigma in school – “Oh, that’s the child that can’t afford to go on the school trip” – then you’re having to contact food banks for help and assistance and support.’
Over the coming year, an estimated nine million people will be at risk of needing to use a food bank, according to the Trussell Trust figures.
They show 34% of families with children and 49% of families with disabled children have run out of food in the past 12 months and could not afford to buy more.
Citing WPI Economics analysis, the charity said this includes six million adults and 2.9 million children, which would be an increase of 500,000 in the past two years.
Helen Barnard, director of policy and research at Trussell, said: ‘If we don’t act, we risk blighting the futures of a whole generation of young people who are experiencing and witnessing hardship UK-wide as the norm.
‘We need politicians to take the heartbreaking scale of hunger in the UK seriously.
‘The Prime Minister must renew Labour’s manifesto promise to end the need for emergency food, start strong in his first Budget, and make this a measurable goal for his government’s ten-year plan to raise living standards.’
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