AN AMBITIOUS plan to tackle to food poverty in Greater Manchester will launch today.

More than 100 organisations, including Groundwork, have joined forces to end food poverty in Greater Manchester.

In the last few years more than 170 food banks and social food providers have sprung up across the region, prompting the need for a plan.

Greater Manchester Poverty Action is leading the Food Poverty Action Plan, co-director Tom Skinner said: “People will see a more joined-up system, a ‘no-wrong-door’ approach.

“When someone is in need, wherever they go they will be helped to find the right support.

“Sometimes it’s an emergency food package or they might need to be part of a food scheme or need advice.”

Mr Skinner also said there would be a focus on promoting healthy start vouchers, an NHS and Government scheme to give parents of young children on a low income voucher for fruit and vegetables for free.

Mr Skinner said: “In Greater Manchester there’s only a 65 per cent uptake, that’s lower than all other comparable city regions ­— £3.5 million of fruit and vegetables each year.”

The Greater Manchester Food Poverty Action Plan is calling for action by organisations across all sectors to help prevent people falling into poverty in the first place and to support people experiencing food poverty through increased access to advice and support.

Research conducted by the University of Manchester and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showed that despite Greater Manchester having the third fastest growing economy outside London, poverty was still growing and an estimated 620,000 people were living in poverty and 585,000 residents living in neighbourhoods which are in the most deprived 10 per cent in the country.