More turn to food banks

A sharp increase in the number of people needing help from Auckland's City Mission this Christmas is a sign of the financial problems of the past year, the organisation says.

"We've already provided emergency food grants or food parcels to 1207 families this season, compared to just 800 this time last year," Auckland City Mission spokeswoman Diane Robertson said.

"[More than] 400 of the families we have helped over the last couple of weeks are first time users of food banks. We're seeing people who are among the 60,000 people made redundant in the past 12 months who have run through any resources they had, and are now really struggling."

Ms Robertson said for many it was their first time needing assistance from a charity.

"They are often very embarrassed and apologise for coming to us. They usually ask for the bare minimum."

- NZPA