Food banks brace for 'worst winter yet' as record numbers need help amid cost of living crisis

Food banks are bracing for their worst winter yet as the cost of living crisis continues to plunge more families into poverty. 

More than 600,000 people are likely to need the support of food banks between December and February, according to forecasts from the Trussell Trust. 

This will mean around one million food parcels need to be distributed – the most parcels ever provided across this period. It is an average of one parcel every eight seconds. 

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Emma Revie, Chief Executive of the Trussell Trust, said: “We don’t want to spend every winter saying things at food banks are getting worse, but they are. Food banks are not the answer in the long term, but while we continue to fight for the change that could mean they can be closed for good, your local food bank urgently needs your support.

“They need donations of food for emergency parcels, and money to fund costs such as the purchasing of food to meet the shortfall in donations they are currently experiencing.”

Food banks are calling on people in their local communities to donate, if they can, to ensure that they can continue to support everyone who needs their help.

Natasha Copus, project manager at Southend Food Bank, said: “We have had to buy around half of the food we give out already this year and that is not even with the added pressure of heating and energy that people will face this winter. It is with trepidation that we face the next six months of being there for people. We ask our community for their financial support, food, and prayer this winter.”

Although donations have remained stable compared to last year, the increased level of need means food banks do not have enough food. In the last three months, the vast majority of Trussell Trust food banks (93%) have had to purchase extra food to top up donations. 

Revie added: “One in seven people in the UK face hunger because they don’t have enough money to live on. That’s not the kind of society we want to live in, and we won’t stand by and let this continue. Every year we are seeing more and more people needing food banks, and that is just not right. 

“Together, we have roots into hundreds of communities, and while someone facing hunger can’t change the structural issues driving the need for food banks on their own, thousands of us coming together can. We must end hunger across the UK so that no one needs a food bank to survive.”

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