A North East food charity is concerned that families will "not have the means" to cook the food delivered to them as a result of the growing energy crisis.
Juliet Sanders, CEO of Feeding Families in Blaydon, said she's seen an increase in people asking for help with their fuel bills, as gas prices soar to unprecedented levels.
And that is before the "full impact of increased energy costs" comes into play, she said, as the energy regulator Ofgem confirmed today a rise in bills in April for millions of households.
The price cap will be upped from £1,277 to £1,971, which is a 54% increase of £693 for most households.
Go here for the latest regional affairs and North East politics news
At the same time the Bank of England has also raised interest rates to 0.5% from 0.25% - adding financial stress for those with mortages or other types of debt.
Charity head Juliet said: "We are now reviewing what we offer as we are concerned that even if we provide food, families may not have the means to cook it which is a great cause for concern.
"We have seen an increase in people asking for help with their fuel bills, which sadly we cannot provide and are aware that many will be silently struggling underneath the radar."
Feeding Families isn't a food bank, rather the organisation supports other charities, schools and organisations to feed their clients by supplying emergency food boxes and support packages.
To make this happen, they rely on food donations from the public.
Juliet added: "Over Christmas we distributed over 9000 hampers across the region. But worryingly, we had to close our applications early because demand was so great and we had fewer donors than previous years.
"This was an indication of what we are now seeing in 2022. There appear to be a number of contributory factors to more families falling into poverty including the effects of Covid, job losses, benefits falling behind inflation, the rise in food prices - and we are yet to see the full impact of increased energy costs.
"As a charity, it is difficult to maintain our supply because many people who would have given are also feeling the pinch themselves and, understandably, are more cautious in case these circumstances hit them too."
The charity is now having to supplement donations with fundraising to buy the food they need.
However, as Juliet explained: "As shopping gets more expensive, the amount we are able to buy decreases and we can do less for the same amount of money while the demand is increasing.
"Last year at this time we would maybe get a couple of direct approaches a week asking for help. Over the past month we have had multiple requests every day we are simply not able to help everyone.
"We signpost to other organisations where we can but are fully aware that they will be in the same position as us."
Shoppers were this week warned they face an annual grocery bill rise of around £180.
This is according to new research from Kantar which shows food prices rose by 3.8% in the four weeks to January 23 - up from 3.5% in December.
For the latest local news in your area direct to your inbox every day, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
