MORE than 600 emergency food packs were handed out in just 12 months to people in the Western Isles facing crisis.
A report by Trussell Trust Foodbank Network into foodbank use in the islands found that between April 2017 and March 2018, it gave out 616 three-day emergency food supplies, with 227 going to children.
The figures have prompted Na h-Eileanan an Iar MSP Alasdair Allan to support a call by the Trussell Trust for an urgent review into the Universal Credit rollout. Mr Allan has already called for that rollout to be halted immediately, before it reaches the Western Isles later this year.