A hardship charity once chaired by Charles Dickens has received a 30% increase in requests for help from struggling shop workers as the high street crisis bites.

The Fashion and Textile Children’s Trust steps in to assist children whose parents work in the fashion industry but are struggling to make ends meet. The surge in requests for its grants in 2019, included a “significant” increase in inquiries from people who were being made redundant from stores.

Anna Pangbourne, the director of the charity, said: “With retailers collapsing, many people have been made redundant, which is very raw for the families involved, particularly at this time of year.”

The charity offers grants to parents who cannot afford essentials for their children. In most cases, families need the cash to buy winter clothing and shoes or to replace broken appliances. It also extends grants to families coping with hardship after a redundancy.

With the retail sector going through a period of major upheaval the charity said that over the past two years it had seen a 60% increase in redundancy-related inquiries. Several retailers have announced store closures in recent months including Mamas & Papas, Karen Millen and Coast. Another wave of job losses will arrive in the new year as Debenhams is shutting 20 department stores and Mothercare is shutting all 79 of its UK stores.

Pangbourne said the expense of Christmas added to already high levels of stress and anxiety: “We are seeing families approach us for help to replace broken items in the home, such as washing machines or beds. It’s likely these families have been making do, or using any spare wages to save for replacements, but the shock of redundancy has given them no other option.”

The trust, which was founded in 1853 by a group of philanthropic textile merchants to support the bereaved family of a colleague, helped 615 families in its last financial year. Its average grant is around £500, and the charity said it was possible recent store closures will lead to an increase in the number of grants awarded.

The work of the charity, originally called the Purley Children’s Trust, attracted the attention of Dickens, who chaired its appeal board from 1856 to 1857.