Birmingham City Council offers cash to keep food banks afloat

Food banks, social supermarkets and community pantries in Birmingham are being offered cash grants to help them survive over the next six months.

About 100 organisations will be able to apply for up to £800 a month from the city council, the local authority said.

The money will mainly be used to buy food but can be used for other items such as hygiene products, it added.

"This is about ensuring we can put food on people's plates," councillor John Cotton said.

Organisations will have to meet criteria such as showing they are a non-profit group, that they already provide community food support and how the money would be used.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk