Restos du Coeur campaign launches

MORE than 100 million hot meals are to be distributed to France's most needy residents this winter, as welfare charity the Restos du Coeur launches its annual campaign today.

The initiative sees 58,000 volunteers helping out at 2,000 specially set-up centres around France.

The charity helped 830,000 people last winter and expects even more requests this year because of the economic crisis and a growing number of long-term unemployed people who have lost their entitlement to certain benefits.

The economic crisis has also hit the group's finances, with government and European aid for the charity in decline.

The Restos du Coeur was set up by comedian and one-time presidential candidate Coluche and is run by a national association as well as departmental ones around France.

The scale of the operation has increased about ten-fold since its first year, 1985, when 8.5 million meals were handed out by 5,000 volunteers.

This year's campaign will run until March 19.