A record number of food parcels have been given out over the last year to people struggling with the cost of living crisis, the UK’s largest food bank provider reports.
New annual figures from the Trussell Trust show that almost three million food parcels were given out between April 2022 and March 2023, with more than a million parcels for children.
This is the largest number of emergency food packages the charity has ever distributed in a single year and represents a 37% increase compared to last year.
It also represents more than double the amount distributed by food banks in the same period five years ago.
‘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,’ said Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust.
‘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 food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.’
Research carried out by the trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculated that payments under the Universal Credit scheme were at least £140 a month below the real cost of food, energy and other essentials.
