Dear friend,

As a Friend of The Trussell Trust you can donate as little or as much as you'd like. Regular giving can help change lives.

Becoming A Friend Is Easy and Means:

• You'll stop families going hungry today, and help us to prevent UK hunger tomorrow.
• New services can be developed at foodbanks to help people out of crisis faster e.g. healthy eating courses and budgeting advice
• You'll always be kept up to date with how your gift is changing lives.

Simply  CLICK HERE to become a Friend and you’ll receive a special token of Friends Seeds to welcome you and say thank you.

The start of the new school term and return of free school meals brings huge relief to around one third of UK parents who struggle to make their budget stretch over the school holidays. Teachers report many pupils returning to school who've lost weight and are struggling to concentrate.

One such Mum is Elaine from Paisley who spoke on BBC Womans Hour last week about her experience of using a foodbank in the school holiday. She says "without the foodbank I don't know what I would have done...I've always been able to stand on my own two feet".

A former hairdresser and factory worker, Elaine suffered a spinal disability during childbirth which left her unable to work. She's been looking after her six year old daughter on £98 a fortnight, the lowest rate of ESA benefit, because she has been waiting for an ATOS assessment since January. Elaine has been struggling to afford enough food, saying "most evenings I don't eat at all". Over the summer, coping without free school meals brought Elaine to breaking point. Renfrewshire foodbank provided essential help to Elaine and her daughter over the holidays and is still working to help her find a way out of crisis long term.