ADVICE workers are raiding their own kitchen cupboards to prevent desperate York families going without food this Christmas.

The York Citizens Advice Bureau says some clients, including people with children, are finding they cannot afford to buy food as they struggle to keep up with credit card and mortgage payments.

“No one ought to be going hungry these days, but we’re finding people who can only afford to eat three or four times a week,” said spokeswoman Rosemary Suttill.

“Staff have been so worried about some of their clients that they have taken matters in their own hands to help some of the most vulnerable over the holiday period.

“They have got together and raided their own store cupboards and we’ve been given items from supermarkets too, to provide bags of basic food for seven clients that we know of who are especially in need.

“We’ll be contacting them privately to hand over these essentials in the run up to Christmas.”

Ms Suttill said the levels of poverty had surprised staff, despite the economic climate. “We thought that, in a country like Britain and in a prosperous area, surely this isn’t possible?”

She said they looked through the clients’ notes and found their problems stemmed from three main causes:

• Family break up and isolation. “Partners are sometimes deserted and left trying to deal with debts, mortgage repayments and all the worries about caring for young children, just when they thought they had got a stable relationship and no major problems. Christmas is probably the hardest time for families to break up.”

• Illness. “We’re not always sure if our clients become ill because they can’t eat properly, or whether they were ill to start with, and not having enough food makes them feel worse.”

• Welfare benefit complexities. “These can take some sorting out, need long phone conversations with government departments and often people are told they need to wait for a letter to arrive before anything can be done. We’re not sure what they are supposed to do in the meantime.”

The CAB’s comments come as research by R3, the insolvency trade body, revealed almost one million people in Yorkshire expected to still be paying for their Christmas spending, three months after the festive period is over.

• York CAB will close tomorrow and re-open on January 4, but said its advice website gives basic information which may solve many queries adviceguide.org.uk

These are some of the York clients CAB says it is trying to help this Christmas:

1. Following separation from her partner, A is in financial difficulties mainly as a result of trying to keep up mortgage repayments. The house is on the market and once it is sold many of the financial problems will be eased. Meanwhile, with no family support, A is only managing to eat three or four times a week and her health is suffering.

2. After B graduated from university, she split up with her partner and found he had left her with a number of debts. She is now receiving sickness benefits as she is unable to work. Her family can help a little, but C is not able to eat every day while she tries to meet council tax arrears.

3. Families struggle to buy food C is in a difficult relationship with her partner and there is almost continual confusion about welfare benefit entitlements. It has been possible to get some emergency help from local charities. C will need support from a lot of agencies for some time to come. Making sure of regular meals will help her stay healthy and able to cope with her difficulties.