Food banks across the Trussell Trust network are expecting to provide more than one million emergency food parcels between December 2023 and February 2024. This equates to an average of one food parcel every eight seconds (11,500 a day) and 7,000 people seeking support each day.
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 Foodbank, said: “Our foodbank distribution centres have seen unprecedented need in our community. We are committed to being there for the most vulnerable in our society and to providing three days of food.
“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.”
A recent survey of 282 food banks indicated that in the last three months 93% had to purchase food, at a time when prices are higher than ever, in order to keep up with the rising levels of need.
These pressures have also led to one in three (32%) food banks reporting that they are concerned about being able to continue running at their current level in the coming months.