Charities and food banks across the North East have reacted to Rishi Sunak becoming Prime Minister. 

The White Feather Project, which provides support to deprived areas across Middlesbrough, has called for Rishi Sunak to spend an afternoon delivering food packages with the charity. 

Mark, the White Feather Project's manager and cofounder, has invited Rishi to get "real-world experience on the issues he legislates on" by doing a shift at the charity. 

Since lockdown, the White Feather Project has been supporting individuals across the Tees Valley through free food packages and discounted groceries, with the mission of eliminating food deprivation in Middlesbrough. 

Read more: Middlesbrough's White Feather Project helps North East survive

But, as the cost of living has increased, so too has the cost of running a charity, leaving White Feather staff struggling to stock shelves and keep customers fed. 

"Because of the cost of living, we can't buy more than two tins of anything in store, which means that we can't even stock care packages.

"[Sunak] is not seeing that part of it - he needs to get some perspective; we have people coming to us crying their eyes out because they can't even afford a loaf of bread."

"There would be nothing better than getting him to go out delivering care packages with us in our most deprived areas."

Mark also appealed to Sunak to help the North East on the whole, saying: "The NHS desperately needs help in the North East.

"I would just like him to do what he promised he is going to do, especially when it comes to levelling up."

Read more: Cost of living support in Darlington receives mixed response

Hambleton FoodShare, a food bank located in Sunak's Richmond constituency, told The Northern Echo: "We'd like to see food banks go out of business, but at the moment we are seeing an unbelievable increase in demand. 

"August was our busiest month since we opened over a decade ago, and when we buy food, our 11-item care package costs 47% more than it did before.  

"As Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak needs to think about the poorest in society, and not worry about tax cuts for the rich.

"He cut the extra £20 benefits that people got through the pandemic, and that really affected people."

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