YMCA staff in Burton have reported a 30 per cent rise in demand for the emergency food parcels it hands out to people in need.

The charity which mostly helps the homeless on the streets of the town also runs a busy food bank in Burton. It is open to anyone in crisis and in need of food.

And this year the charity has given out 1,293 food packages up until the end of October.

This is a 30 per cent increase on the number of parcels given away during the same period in 2016.

The high demand has even seen a shortage of food to give out at key times during the year, particularly in August.

Between the start of the year and the end of October 2017, more food parcels were handed out than during 2015 a whole.

Andy Horsnail, operations manager at the YMCA in Burton, said although it was nice to see the community come forward and donate food, he believes people struggling on benefits and working on zero-hours contracts has led to increased pressure on services.

He said: "It's lovely to be able to help and fantastic that the community out there supports us to support them; that's very humbling.

"But, sometimes the perception of people who use a food bank is that they are scroungers were they just come in for food; that can sometimes deter people from giving to a food bank, but we only offer four food parcels throughout a year to get people through a crisis.

"If you're temporarily working, with a few days' work here and there you can go through a week working, then have a fortnight of nothing and back in for a couple of days. So it's really related to zero hours contacts that's affecting people and seeing them come here.

The foodbank at the YMCA in Burton looks full following the harvest festival
The foodbank at the YMCA in Burton looks full following the harvest festival

"A lot of it can be due to benefits, people just can't manage on the money that they're getting in.

"They're waiting for benefits to kick in, we're starting to see more Universal Credit people, because of the six-week window in between and delayed payments, and these cause massive issues."

The figures from the YMCA mirror the 586,907 emergency packages handed out nationally between the start of April and end of September by the Trussell Trust, which is also a homeless charity that runs more than 420 food banks across the UK.

This figure is a 13 per cent rise on the same period of time from 2016.

According to our sister title, the Mirror , the trust has called for a cut to the six-weeks waiting time for Universal Credit.

Universal Credit is a single monthly payment for people who can be in work or unemployed.

It replaces some other benefits and tax credits, like housing benefit, child tax credit, income support and working tax credit.

When receiving Universal Credit, there may be a wait of up to six weeks before an individual receives their first payment. Mr Horsnail, from the YMCA, said that it was seeing an issue due to this delay in payments at the Burton food bank.

Mark Ward, chief executive of Trussell Trust, said: "We're seeing soaring demands at food banks across the UK.

"Our network is working hard to stop people going hungry but the simple truth is that even with the enormous generosity of our donors and volunteers, we're concerned foodbanks could struggle to meet demand this winter if critical changes to benefit delivery aren’t made now.

Outside the Reconnect Centre on Orchard Street, Burton, where the foodbank is hosted
Outside the Reconnect Centre on Orchard Street, Burton, where the foodbank is hosted

"Without urgent action from policy-makers and even more generous practical support from the public, we don't know how foodbanks are going to stop families and children going hungry this Christmas."

What is Universal Credit?

Universal Credit was introduced in 2013 to replace six benefits and tax credits, aiming to bring fairness and simplicity to the social security system in Britain.

This would combine income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, working tax credit, child tax credit and housing benefits into one single monthly payment.

It was designed to allow claimants to begin part-time work without losing their full entitlement of benefits, which will reduce slowly over time, without being taken fully away.

The majority of new claims for Universal Credit come from single, newly-employed people.

While receiving Universal Credit, you can work as many hours as you like, unlike other benefit schemes which reduce the claim if the recipient is working.