Food banks have distributed almost three million emergency food parcels in the last 12 months, with the number provided to children reaching more than one million for the first time.
According to new record-breaking figures from NGO and charity the Trussell Trust, this represents a 37% increase compared to the previous year.
A total of 2,986,203 emergency food parcels were given out between April 2022 and March 2023, the most the charity’s UK-wide network have ever distributed in a single year.
The record numbers come as the UK cost of living crisis helped drive more than 750,000 people to food banks for the first time.
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Food banks are now extending their opening hours to accommodate people who need to access emergency support.
Additionally, The Food Foundation released a new short film this week that aims to shed light on the reality and struggles that families are facing across the UK with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
The Trussell Trust says the level of need 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.
The northeast of England saw a 54% rise in the number of parcels being distributed compared to the previous year, the highest of any area in the UK.
However, the problem is “not a regionalised issue” as of the four nations, Wales had the highest rise at 41%, followed by England at 37%, Scotland at 30% and Northern Ireland at 29%.
The Trussell Trust is now calling on the government to make a long-term commitment benefit and Universal Credit rates so people can afford the essentials.
Trussell Trust’s CEO, Emma Revie, 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.
“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,” Revie concluded.
