HUNDREDS more households are seeking help as authorities, community groups and charities work together to make sure no one goes hungry.

The number of households needing help from Christian charity Urban Outreach, which is operating the council’s humanitarian hub, has risen from 400 to 2,000 per week during the coronavirus crisis.

Bolton Council of Mosques, which is organising its own food deliveries for the wider community, has received calls for help from people saying they have not eaten all day.

This comes as Greater Manchester authorities scramble to house 344 more people who have become homeless since the coronavirus outbreak took hold.

Billa Ahmed, co-founder of Homeless Aid UK says he expects the number of homeless and hungry people to continue to rise even after lockdown restrictions are lifted.

He said: “We are doing as much as we can and we are working with the council to get as many people housed. Quite a number have actually been housed but as somebody gets put into a home, another gets made homeless. So it’s one step forward, two steps back.

“Bolton Council are doing an amazing job, but a lot of hotels and B&Bs are shut so where do you put those people?

“We’ve got people losing jobs and when all these businesses open up again, they are not going to have work immediately.

“I think we’re going to find there’s a lot of people going to be made homeless, especially families.

“There’s quite a few that have slipped through the net. We’re trying our best to work with the authorities to get the people back into the system.”

As well as helping the homeless, the community group has been dropping food hampers to vulnerable people who are self-isolating.

Bolton Council of Mosques has also set up a contact number to coordinate up to 40 food deliveries every day to those who need help across the borough.

An executive member of the trust said that most people who are reaching out to the organisation for help are from outside of the Muslim community.

He said: “We had one lady call us from a flat in Bolton saying, ‘I’ve not eaten all day. Can someone drop off food to my house?’

“It just breaks my heart that there are so many people out there who need help.

“We’re not just helping one faith. It’s for helping all faiths and all communities. We’ve got to fight it together and stand shoulder to shoulder.”

He said he fears more people are going hungry but are too embarrassed to ask for help.

Dave Bagley, who runs Urban Outreach, urged people to call the council’s contact number if they need help with food.

He said: “It’s not a food bank, it’s a humanitarian hub. The food banks are gone. This is food for everyone who needs it.

“We have to be mindful of people who haven’t been in this situation before. But this is not the welfare state. It’s Bolton looking after Bolton.”

As food donations have fallen during the lockdown, authorities are having to buy food which Urban Outreach helps distribute to those who need it.

Bolton Round Table donated £400 to help starving families across the town.

Chairman Alex Baldwin said: “We urge people to donate whatever they can – if everyone donated a few pounds or tins or bags of pasta we’d be able to feed the families that really need it during these unprecedented times.”

Anyone wishing to donate food is being asked to take it to the old Staples store at Unit 4 Trinity Retail Park, off Bradford Street, Bolton BL2 1HY.

The hub takes donations between 10.00am and 4.00pm each weekday.

The humanitarian hub is particularly short of tins of pulses, tuna, vegetables, meat-based items, chopped tomatoes and jars of pasta and curry sauce.

For Bolton Council of Mosques dedicated helpline, call 01204 363680 and select option 6.

For help from the council call 01204 337221 from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Monday to Friday and 9am to 1.30pm on Saturdays.