Posts in '2021'

We are always blown away by the incredible commitment of food bank volunteers. Faced with a year of change, face masks, and social distancing, the 28,000+ volunteers across the network have shown amazing resilience over the past year, adjusting to new ways of operating, moving to remote support, and processing unprecedented levels of donations and demand. Every day we are both inspired and humbled by the difference volunteers make, giving their time and expertise for free to help make us the best we can be.

As part of Volunteers’ Week, we’ve asked volunteers to share their stories and let us know what being a food bank volunteer means to them. Here’s what they told us: (more…)

As a charity, we hugely value the time, skills, and experience provided by the network’s 28,000 food bank volunteers. As part of our commitment to them, we launched a project in March 2020 to provide all of the food banks in the Trussell Trust network with access to Assemble, a volunteer management system. Assemble is a comprehensive volunteering system focused on empowering and supporting volunteers, streamlining processes, and celebrating the impact and contribution made by both individuals and teams.

We’re delighted to now have over 100 food banks up and running on Assemble, something we couldn’t have done without the support of the Scottish Tech Army. (more…)

By Susan, Aylesbury

When the pandemic hit last year, I realised so many people were going through hardship and couldn’t afford the basics, such as food. So, I started thinking how I could help and do my bit for the community.

People contribute and support food banks in any way they can: some hold coffee mornings to raise money while others might make cakes. I love gardening and I have a big garden with lots of plants, so I thought why not share them with other people to support a good cause? In April 2020 I set up a stall outside my house and started selling my plants. The idea turned out to be a success and it was really appreciated by passers-by: it raised £700 for Aylesbury Foodbank. (more…)

We’re excited to announce our new partnership with Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group which is the UK’s largest provider of affordable housing.

Clarion staff have been able to refer residents to food banks for some time, but this new approach enables Clarion Futures staff to issue electronic vouchers, streamlining the referral process and enabling people in crisis to receive emergency food more quickly from food banks in the Trussell Trust network. (more…)

By Tom Weekes, Research Manager

Yesterday the Trussell Trust released the second State of Hunger report, a comprehensive study of the scale and drivers of hunger in the UK. The report was launched at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ending the Need for Food Banks as part of a wide-ranging discussion of food bank use and destitution, including how to tackle the key drivers of both. The insight provided by the report provides the first step in developing a plan to ensure no one has to be forced to use a food bank.

The cross-party group heard from panellists including Crossbench Peer and former government advisor on social policy Dame Louise Casey, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Helen Barnard, the Trussell Trust’s Emma Revie, and Conservative Peer and Chief Executive of the Legatum Institute Baroness Stroud. (more…)

People forced to food banks at the start of the pandemic faced extreme poverty, with just £248 a month to survive on after housing costs, according to new research.

The Trussell Trust calls for government at all levels to commit to working to end the need for food banks for good as it launches study at cross-party political event.

Today, the Trussell Trust reveals State of Hunger 2021, a follow-up to the most authoritative piece of independent research into hunger in the UK to date. Commissioned by the charity and conducted by Heriot-Watt University, the study sheds light on the groups of people across the UK disproportionately affected by hunger and the drivers behind food bank use. (more…)

In the UK right now, more people than ever are facing extreme poverty, unable to afford the basics or put food on the table. Last year, food banks in our network gave out more than 2.5 million emergency food parcels to people in crisis – and almost a million of these were provided for children.

This simply isn’t right, but we know that together we can make change happen. More than 100,000 people have already signed up for our Hunger Free Future campaign, standing alongside us and people forced to use food banks to call for change. Will you join us? (more…)

This week, we released a brand new video of an incredible poem ‘Acceptable’ – have you seen it yet?

Written by Caroline, one of the thousands of people who’ve signed up to help us build a hunger free future, and read by food bank volunteers and staff from the UK, it describes what it’s really like to need to use a food bank, and should inspire us all to stop, reflect, and take action. (more…)

Tropic Skincare are standing with the Trussell Trust to build a hunger free future and a UK without the need for food banks. Within the first six months of the partnership, Tropic has raised an amazing £100,000 in support of our work. That is double the amount in half the time Tropic and the Trussell Trust were aiming for, which is astounding. We’re very grateful for this incredible support.

Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, a record 2.5 million emergency food parcels were given to people in crisis by food banks in the Trussell Trust network. That’s a shocking 33% increase in need on the previous year, and almost a million of these parcels went to children. (more…)

“Growing up, we lived in a flat in Bethnal Green that had no central heating. There were times we sat in the dark as there was no electricity.

“It was a struggle. My mum had mental health issues that went undiagnosed and was left traumatised by domestic violence. There were no birthday parties, there were no friends around to play, our home never looked like my friends’ homes. I left at 18, lived in a homeless hostel for a while and then got my first flat. I had nothing, just the clothes I had. I had no one to turn to for help, I had no clue how to pay bills. When I had no money to top up the electricity, I would sit covered in blankets reading by candlelight. I had left school with no qualifications and suffered from depression as I had been through some really traumatic situations. I regularly went for days without eating.  (more…)