Food Banks Distribute Record Emergency Food Parcels - Including More Than One Million To Children

Almost three million emergency food parcels have been handed out at food banks in the last year - with the number provided for children topping a million for the first time.

The figures from the Trussell Trust charity (which has food banks all over Sussex) represent a 37% increase compared to the previous year.

More than the entire population of Sheffield used a Trussell Trust food bank for the first time in the last year (around 760,000 people). That is a 38% rise in first-time users compared to the same period last year.

A total of 2,986,203 emergency food parcels were given out between April 2022 and March this year - the most parcels food banks in the charity's UK-wide network have ever distributed in a single year.

It is more than double the amount distributed by food banks in the same period five years ago.

More than 1.14 million parcels were distributed for children - up from some 836,000 the previous year.

No part of the UK immune

The Trussell Trust said the problem is "not a regionalised issue", with an increase of at least 28% in each area of the UK - with the highest being in the northeast of England, with a 54% rise in the number of parcels being distributed compared to the previous year.

Brian Thomas, chief executive at South Tyneside Foodbank, said the "unprecedented rise" in food bank users coupled with food donations not keeping up has led to a "real pressure cooker situation".

Of the four nations, Wales had the highest rise at 41%, followed by England at 37%, Scotland at 30% and Northern Ireland at 29%.

Food banks are now extending their opening hours to accommodate employed people who need to access emergency support around their work.

The charity said it is the case now that the level of need across the network is "far outstripping the donations that we've been receiving", meaning food banks are having to purchase more food themselves and source more warehouse space to store it.

What help is there?

Help from the government in the form of the Cost of Living Payments - and the support provided in Northern Ireland and Scotland - did result in a temporary dip in need for food banks, the charity said, but the organisation criticised the short-term nature of support.

The Trussell Trust is calling on the government to make a long-term commitment that benefit rates will always be enough to afford the essentials, urging that the principle of a minimum Universal Credit to protect people from going without essentials be enshrined in law.

Research with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed the £85 weekly Universal Credit standard allowance is at least £35 less than the weekly cost of essential items for a single person. It means hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to use food banks because they can't make ends meet.

'This is not right'

Emma Revie, the trust's chief executive, said the latest figures are "extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people are being left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right".

She added:

"For too long people have been going without because social security payments do not reflect life's essential costs and people are being pushed deeper into hardship as a result.

"If we are to stop this continued growth and end the need for food banks then the UK government must ensure that the standard allowance of Universal Credit is always enough to cover essential costs."

A government spokesperson said it was committed to eradicating poverty, and cited the uprate in benefits and increase in the national living wage.

"We are also providing record levels of direct financial support for the most vulnerable - £1,200 last year and a further £1,350 in 2023/24, with over eight million families starting to receive their first £301 Cost of Living instalment from yesterday - while the Household Support Fund is helping people with essential costs."

(c) Sky News 2023: Food banks distribute record emergency food parcels - including more than one million to child