Posts in 'News'

Singer-songwriter and musician Passenger is supporting the Trussell Trust, a charity that works with a network of more than 1,200 food bank centres across the UK, by donating proceeds from his new album Patchwork to help people struggling due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Food banks have seen a huge surge in need for emergency support during the coronavirus outbreak. The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children. The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year. (more…)

• More people than ever are expected to use a food bank over the next few months 
• Many food banks across the UK have reported they are running low on essential food supplies 
• Local charities and community groups across the UK are also in need of vital food supplies
• Sainsbury’s, British Gas, The Entertainer, Palletforce and XPO Logistics are working together alongside charities, the Trussell Trust and FareShare, to form part of a national solution to distribute food so food banks can continue to support people most in need 
• The major organisations are working together to ensure this food reaches food banks and community charities as quickly and safely as possible  

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• British Gas engineers and colleagues will be able to support their local area by collecting and delivering food parcels – the company hopes its people will support with 50,000 deliveries a month
• British Gas employees can also volunteer to donate and sort food parcels

British Gas will be working with Trussell Trust by encouraging its people to volunteer with a local food bank. The Trussell Trust is seeing three main challenges impacting food banks as a result of Coronavirus and British Gas will be working with it to address these: (more…)

Today Tesco has confirmed that over the next 12 weeks it will be providing a top up food donation of £15 million of food (ambient and fresh) to FareShare and the Trussell Trust, as part of a wider £25 million package of support they have set up for local communities during the current Covid-19 outbreak. They are also donating £1 million between the two organisations. (more…)

• Liam Payne has joined forces with national charity the Trussell Trust to support food banks in the Midlands and other key cities as they expect to see an increased need as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
• This support will help over 100 food bank centres in Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Sheffield, Nottingham and Bristol continue to provide their essential community service for people in crisis.
• It’s expected that these food banks will provide over 360,000 meals to people in crisis over the next three months, as the pandemic unfolds
• Liam Payne’s donation is the beginning of a long term relationship with the Trussell Trust which will see him use his platform to continue to reach new audiences and raise awareness.

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Our main priority is ensuring the safety of everyone who comes to a food bank – whether it’s someone needing help, someone volunteering their time, or someone making a donation. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, food banks face a difficult decision about whether they are able to stay open. Each food bank in our network is a local charity, run by a community for their local community, and each will be affected differently – so we’ll be working with each of them to look at what is safe for everyone involved.

Until we are confident that adequate government protection against poverty is in place, food banks provide an essential community service to people unable to afford food. (more…)

New figures released by the Trussell Trust reveal 20% increase in emergency food parcels for children in the UK last summer

The Trussell Trust is urging the public to donate food to their local food bank, as new figures show 87,496 food parcels went to children in the UK during the summer holidays in 2018, a 20% increase on the same period in 2017.*

Over a third of all emergency food parcels distributed by food banks in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network go to children, but there is extra financial pressure during the holiday period for families who are entitled to free school meals during term time.

The figures come against a backdrop of soaring food bank use in UK. In 2018-19, food bank use escalated throughout the year with a 19% total increase**, and it is expected this trend will continue, prompting concerns that this summer will be the Trussell Trust network’s busiest to date.

Ahead of schools across England*** and Wales breaking up next week, the Trussell Trust is urging people check what items their local food bank is most in need of.

While these donations are vital for helping families during the next six weeks, the charity has stressed food banks are not a long-term solution, and more must be done to ensure people have enough money for essentials like food.

The Trussell Trust believes tackling delays and gaps in benefits, which affect families’ ability to afford essentials, should be treated as a priority by the Government. The most immediate relief for thousands of people would be to end the five week wait for a first Universal Credit payment, a key driver of need at food banks in the charity’s network.

The Trussell Trust’s chief executive Emma Revie said:

“Food banks will do all they can to help families over the summer, with many running holiday clubs to support parents who find that their income simply won’t stretch to meet the extra pressure of missing free school meals or paying for additional childcare during the holidays. But no charity can replace the dignity of having enough money for the basics.

“While it’s great to see schemes in place to tackle holiday hunger, food banks and other emergency food provision cannot, and must not, be a long term solution to poverty. Ultimately, we should all be protected from needing a food bank’s help, no matter the time of the year.

“If we are to end hunger in the UK, we need to make sure everyone is anchored from being swept into poverty. The Government needs to ensure benefit payments reflect the true cost of living and work is secure, paying the real Living Wage. Every family should have enough money coming in for a decent standard of living. No child should face going hungry in the UK.”

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Contact:

Contact the Trussell Trust Press Office at 020 3137 3699 or [email protected]

Notes to Editor

The Trussell Trust’s #5WeeksTooLong campaign is calling for an end to the 5+ week wait for Universal Credit.

• ‘Emergency food parcel’: three days’ emergency food for one person. These statistics are a measure of volume rather than unique individuals. Recent analysis shows on average people need around two food bank referrals in a year. More information about the way this data is gathered and what it can and can’t show here.

About the Trussell Trust:

• We’re here to end the need for food banks in UK.
• We support a UK-wide network of more than 1,200 food bank centres and together we provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
• Our most recent figures for the number of emergency food supplies provided by our network: https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/
• You can read more about our work at trusselltrust.org

*Number of food parcels to adults and children for the summer holidays in the UK

**Figures from food banks in the Trussell Trust network for 2018/19

• Between 1st April 2018 and 31st March 2019, food banks in The Trussell Trust’s network provided 1,583,668 emergency supplies to people in crisis. 577,618 of these supplies went to children.
• This is an 18.8% increase on the previous year, when 1,332,952 emergency supplies went to people in crisis; 484,026 of these went to children.

***Number of food parcels to adults and children for the 2018 school summer holidays in England (July 22 – August 31)

Asda stores across the UK are launching a week-long food drive today to help support their local food banks ahead of the school holidays.

Customers will be encouraged to donate much-needed supplies which will go to their local food banks, by donating items such as tinned goods and hygiene products in a trolley at the front of the store.

Every summer, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network report an increase in demand for emergency food for children over the summer holidays due to the extra financial pressure put on families who rely on free school meals during term time. This high demand often causes many food banks to distribute more food than is donated, which leaves them short of food supplies.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, 1.6 million emergency food parcels were distributed which is a 19% rise year on year and it is expected that this trend will continue into the summer.

Andy Murray, Chief Customer Officer for Asda said:

“We already have permanent food collection points in store and encourage our customers to donate what they can, but over the next week we’re really trying to increase the number of donations as we go into the summer holidays, when food banks sadly see such an increase in demand from families.

“Our customers and colleagues are always very generous and I want to thank them for supporting our Asda Fight Hunger Create Change programme, which will make a difference in their local community, as well as on a larger scale as we continue to help people out of poverty.”

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust said:

“No one should face going hungry at any time of year. Work is already underway as part of the Fight Hunger Create Change partnership to help us campaign for change and work towards a future where no one needs a food bank.

“While we work in the long term to tackle the structural issues that lock people in poverty, food banks in our network need your help this summer. Your generous donations will make such a difference at a time when food banks see a squeeze on the stock levels of food they have to offer people. The food you donate will help make sure families referred this summer receive vital support at exactly the time when it’s most needed.”

The drive is part of Asda’s Fight Hunger Create Change programme, a three-year, £20m partnership between the supermarket, anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust, and food redistribution charity FareShare. The partnership will enable FareShare to double their capacity, meaning more food can reach those in need, while supporting the Trussell Trust to provide even more support to people referred to food banks and work towards a future without food banks through better research into the drivers of poverty.

Number of food parcels given out across UK soars 73% in five years*

New data released today shows April 2018 to March 2019 to be the busiest year for food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network since the charity opened. During the past year, 1,583,668 three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis in the UK; More than half a million of these (577,618) went to children. This is an 18.8% increase on the previous year.

The main reasons for people needing emergency food are benefits consistently not covering the cost of living (33%), and delays or changes to benefits being paid.**

Universal Credit is not the only benefit payment people referred to food banks have experienced problems with, but issues with moving onto the new system are a key driver of increasing need. Almost half (49%) of food bank referrals made due to a delay in benefits being paid in UK were linked to Universal Credit.***

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