Citizens Advice issues warning over ‘bleakest ever’ year

Record numbers of people have more money going out than coming in and need emergency grants

Citizens Advice has faced its “bleakest ever” start to the year as demand for help has soared amid the cost of living crisis.

The charity said it supported 94,000 people with food bank referrals and access to emergency charitable grants – or 9,600 a day - a 178 per cent increase on the same period in 2020.

It has helped more people in the first four months of the year than all of 2019 and as many as it did throughout 2020.