The Salvation Army in Woodbridge says they're expecting a spike in need over the summer holidays
They've said they're already seeing a rise in people coming to them
A Suffolk food bank says it’s preparing for a spike in demand as families head into the summer holidays.
The Salvation Army in Woodbridge has already seen a rise in the number of people asking for help, with new faces turning up and some who’d previously stopped coming now returning.
Major Alan Hill told us: “We reckon it's going to be a busy summer. We've already had new people and people that stopped coming, returning, asking if they can have support.”
"What we cannot allow is children to go hungry. End of story"
He said the break from school puts extra pressure on families, particularly when free school meals and breakfast clubs stop over the holidays:
“More people are going to be put in poverty, the bad times they have them when school breaks around, which is going to mean, maybe children haven't got breakfast.”
While donations of toiletries are coming in regularly, Alan says what matters most now is keeping shelves stocked with food.
“If that's putting a tin of beans in one of the supermarket trolleys or baskets, that helps – then that's so be it.”
Reflecting on how long he’s been doing this work, he says it’s important to keep going even when things feel tough:
“We just got to keep on doing it. There's got to be a turning point eventually.”
But for now, he says, it's about coming together as a community and ensuring that no child goes hungry.
“What we cannot allow is children to go hungry. End of story.”
The Salvation Army says it’s one of many organisations across the UK seeing similar pressures as the cost of living continues to bite over summer.