The Trussell Trust, a Christian charity, has delivered almost three million emergency food parcels to people experiencing hardship in the UK between April 2022-March 2023. The trust reported that the demand for food parcels increased during winter and especially in December. There has been a 37% increase in the number of people accessing the service as compared to the previous year. The Chief Executive at Trussell Trust, Emma Revie has pointed out that the alarming increase in the number of people accessing emergency food parcels indicates that more and more people have no other option but to seek help from volunteer-run or charitable organizations.
Christian Today reports:
The Trussell Trust has given out record numbers of emergency food parcels to people in hardship in the last 12 months.
Almost three million parcels were given out between April 2022 and March 2023, with a million of them for children.
This is double the amount distributed by the Christian charity in the same period five years ago and a 37% increase on the previous year.
Some 760,000 people were new users of the service, up 38% from the previous year.
Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said that current social security payments were pushing people deeper into hardship because they “do not reflect life’s essential costs”.
“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,” she said.
“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.
“Food banks 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 Trussell Trust said that demand had spiked during the winter months, particularly in December.
Read the full article here.
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