Surrey Charity: "Parents are skipping meals"
FareShare Surrey and Sussex are calling for one final push to their summer campaign to help parents with the financial crunch of the start of term
A Surrey charity is urging for people to help as families prepare to go back to school.
FareShare Surrey and Sussex is a food delivery service that has been running a summer appeal in order to help parents cope without school meals.
Dan Slatter, who is the CEO of the charity, says that in the lead up to schools going back they see parents being forced to make bleak sacrifices.
"Often you'll have heard the phrase food insecurity used over the last few years, and the figures around that are are terrifying, to be quite honest, where parents are skipping meals.
We we're really get feeling that effect right now as people get ready to return to the schooling system."
According to the Department of Education, the cost for a school uniform is just over £340 for primary school children and around £454 for those in secondary education.
Slatter says that this combined with an increase in food inflation can put a financial crunch on many families.
"The latest lot of food inflation price figures have just come out seeing food inflation running at just under 5%.
We know it hasn't hit its peak yet. We know we've had a really dry summer that's affecting crop yield in the UK. Therefore that will continue to push the prices up.
So this pressure point without provision of school meals for young families is getting exacerbated"
Slatter reiterated the need for support to these families, as although families will soon be able to rely on school meals, other factors are sure to come in and keep financial pressure high.
"Obviously what will positively change at the start of term, is those who are dependent on the free school meals service that will kick back in.
But pressure on family budgets sadly looks like it's set to continue over the coming months as we approach the end of this year."
Dan added that in the middle of a time of huge food wastage FareShare's mission was to help struggling families by redirecting healthy good food destined for waste, to families that need it.
"There's a disaster going on. 20 to 30% of all food that's produced globally never makes it onto a plate.
And we're intercepting that healthy, good food and passing that on to some people who who need a little bit of extra care and support."