Foodbanks hand out 73,424 meals each day as families face cost of living crisis
Nearly three million emergency food parcels were given out by Britain’s biggest foodbank network as demand from hungry families broke all records.
The Trussell Trust's 1,400 centres provided 2,986,203 aid packages - with enough ingredients for 26.8 million meals - in the last financial year as families were gripped by the cost-of-living crisis.
Some 1,139,553 parcels went to children.
The overall surge in demand was a 37% increase on the previous 12 months when 2,183,625 packages were distributed.
The total number given away between last April and this March even topped the record number needed at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
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Chief executive Emma Revie said: “This level of need is even higher than we saw during the first year of the pandemic, which I think we all assumed would be a once-in-a-lifetime level of need that we were seeing - but we actually provided 16% more parcels than we did in that year.”
Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie (Humphrey Nemar/Daily Mirror)Rising demand was greatest in the North East, which saw a 54% increase, while in Wales it went up by 41%.
The number of packages provided in the las year was more than double the figure distributed five years ago.
More than 760,000 people used a food bank in the Trussell Trust network for the first time between last April and March.
Levels of desperation peaked in December, which was the network’s busiest month, when its volunteers gave away a food parcel every eight seconds on average.
Ms Revie said the “figures tell a really tough story that has been developing over a long period of time”.
She added: “These new statistics 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.
Demand outstripped supply (Getty Images)“The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing, low levels of income and a social security system that isn’t fit for purpose that are forcing more people to need foodbanks, rather than just the recent cost-of-living crisis or the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Foodbanks were set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency - they are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist.”
The charity said demand was “far outstripping” supply as donors also battled rising living costs.
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Ms Revie also revealed the impact the crisis was having on the Trust’s volunteers.
“The hardship and the distress that people are presenting with when they are coming to foodbanks has increased significantly - and that’s really taking its toll on our volunteers and staff,” she said.
“It’s very hard to hear how much difficulty people are in, and knowing an emergency food parcel is just not going to be sufficient to meet that level of need.”
Volunteers are becoming distressed at the hardship they witness (Getty Images)Fiona Dalgleish, who runs a foodbank in the Scottish Borders, admitted: “We’re all shattered and it’s hard to keep morale up because it’s a depressing time to deal with people who are fighting to keep themselves going all the time.”
The foodbank was providing meals for nurses, teaching assistants and a woman juggling three jobs, she said, as well as those in low-paid work and on zero-hours contracts.
South Tyneside Foodbank chief executive Brian Thomas said: “We are experiencing an unprecedented rise in the number of people coming to the foodbank, particularly employed people who are no longer able to balance a low income against rising living costs.
“We’re also seeing a really high number of families needing support as people struggle to afford the essentials.
“Food donation levels are not keeping up with the significant increase in need and this is putting us under a lot of strain - it’s a real pressure cooker situation for foodbanks.”
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the “devastating increase in emergency food parcels” shows the “price families are paying for 13 years of Tory economic failure”.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)He added: “The simple truth is food banks are stepping in because Tory ministers let inflation soar, increased taxes on working people and crashed the economy forcing both mortgages and rent bills up.”
Independent Food Aid Network coordinator Sabine Goodwin said: "This staggering data must propel our Government to take immediate cash first, income-focused actions with the long-term in mind.
“Trussell Trust figures represent the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to wider food insecurity.
“The UK's poverty crisis is having a devastating impact on people's physical and mental health to the detriment of society as a whole.
“This is an avoidable public health disaster."
A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to eradicating poverty and we recognise the pressures of the rising cost of living which is why we have uprated benefits by 10.1% as well as making an unprecedented increase to the National Living Wage this month.
Sabine Goodwin, coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network (Courtesy of Sabine Goodwin)“This is on top of changes already made to Universal Credit which mean claimants can keep more of their hard-earned money – a boost worth £1,000 a year on average.
“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.”
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