West Berks Foodbank referrals from schools surge since Easter holidays began

West Berks Foodbank said it had 263 referrals from schools since the start of the Easter break.

It said the uptick was because West Berkshire Council is not allocating food vouchers.

The council says allocations for school meal vouchers for the coming financial year will be confirmed in due course.

It points to its announcement about the Household Support Fund, which said: "We are pleased to announce that we have been allocated just under £1.4m to directly help local households most in need with essential food and energy costs via the Household Support Fund (HSF).

"To date, this brings our total HSF allocation to £3,474,248.15.

"We have used this funding to successfully support over 2,400 households to pay for energy bills, food, and clothing.

"The funding has also supported over 4,000 children across West Berkshire with free school meal vouchers during the school holidays as we recognised the additional financial pressures families faced during those times."