Blog

By Helen Barnard – Director of Policy, Research and Impact

The cost of living crisis is deepening for some of those on the lowest incomes. We see this across our network of Trussell Trust food banks and in new research from YouGov which found that half of those on Universal Credit ran out of food in the last month and couldn’t afford to buy more.

In October 2022, we launched our first ever emergency appeal to help food banks facing their most challenging winter to date. Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to provide emergency grants to hundreds of food banks across the UK and are now focusing on distributing the remaining funds to the food banks that need them most.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who donated to the appeal. We’d also like to thank Benefact, the People’s Postcode Lottery, Morrisons, Tesco, OVO, Sainsbury’s and Aviva for their support.

See how your donations have already made a difference below:

Today we launched a new campaign, Guarantee our Essentials, in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), calling on the UK government to enshrine in law the amount people need to ensure the basic rate of Universal Credit at least covers the essentials.

Universal Credit should offer support to anyone in need of help. But there’s now a significant gap between living costs and the income Universal Credit provides, according to both our and JRF’s calculations. Rates are also not based on what people need and how much essentials such as food, household bills and travel costs, which is driving increasing levels of hardship and pushing people to food banks, with 90% of low-income households on Universal Credit going without.

Our new video highlights some of the impossible decisions families are having to make.

With the cost of living crisis, more and more people are being forced to use food banks. Almost 1.3 million emergency food parcels were provided by food banks in the Trussell Trust network between April and September 2022.

Social media stars and charity campaigners LadBaby (aka Mark and Roxanne Hoyle) are releasing a reworked version of Bank Aid classic, Do They Know It’s Christmas with 50% of profits being donated to the Trussell Trust and 50% to the Band Aid Trust.

Food Aid will be released on 16th December, and will also feature financial expert Martin Lewis. LadBaby are the first act to be allowed to rework the iconic Christmas track.

Comedian Jason Manford has released a charity single to raise funds and awareness for our Emergency Fund Appeal, which is helping food banks keep going this winter.

The single, Assembly Bangers, has been performed as the finale during Jason’s recent sold-out UK tour, and is a dance track featuring songs sung in school assemblies for decades. It includes This Little Light of Mine, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, When I Needed a Neighbour, Lord of the Dance, and Sing Hosanna.

By Heather Buckingham – Interim Director of Policy, Research and Impact

Over recent weeks, opinion polls about the popularity or otherwise of our political leaders have animated debate, shaped decisions and filled many pages and screens of media content.

As Rishi Sunak takes up the role of Prime Minister, we are calling on him to turn his attention to the public’s opinion on a different matter, and one which is of critical importance at this time.

Eighty-five percent of adults in the UK agree that ensuring everyone has enough money for basic needs should be a high priority for the UK Government.¹

The cost of living is leading to increased need and rising costs for food banks. Here are five ways that food banks are being impacted:

Increased need

The sharp rise in the cost of energy, food and other essentials, alongside the £20 cut to universal credit in October 2021, has meant that between April 2021 and March 2022, food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided more than 2.1 million parcels to people facing financial hardship.

This is the first time since the height of the pandemic that food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network have provided more than 2 million parcels.

By David Coffin, Head of Participation at the Trussell Trust 

Our vision is to end the need for food banks in the UK and we believe that participation is a vital and growing aspect of our work at the Trussell Trust. So, what do we mean when we say ‘participation’?