Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Some Tauranga families living in hardship are struggling to provide school lunches for their children as back-to-school costs mount. responsibilities  KidsCan's data shows that one in every five children in low-decile schools around New Zealand will head back to class this year without enough food.Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Diane Bruin said there had been high demand for food parcels during the school holidays as allocated food money was paying for back to school costs."A number of young mothers have been seeking food assistance this week due to back to school costs," she said."We don't want to see children without food or school uniforms."Bruin said children going back to school without food and uniforms was a "growing issue" in Tauranga, as well as high accommodation costs.Tauranga principals were also noticing the back to school pressures on vulnerable children.Tom Paekau is the principal of Merivale School. Photo / FileMerivale School principal Tom Paekau said the decile 1 school was graded