The need for emergency food parcels has risen in the last year. In the UK 1.2 million food parcels were provided by The Trussell Trust food banks to people in crisis between the 1st of April and the 30th of September 2020; compared to eight hundred thousand the year before.
The Trussell Trust say they are expecting this winter to be their networks busiest year.
Sarah Forster, a Trussell Trust food bank volunteer in Birmingham said: “There are more and more people accessing food banks and asking for help than I’ve ever seen in years. Food banks didn’t used to exist and now I know of four in a three mile distance.
“A lot of people are being very generous with donating food but there are not a lot of options for people with specific dietary requirements.
“My local food bank is seeing around 100 people needing help per week. With COVID at the moment we are getting an awful lot more referrals.”
She added: “However, it’s not just food that people need. I contacted hotels locally and asked if they had any spare toiletries. Toilet rolls and sanitary products are often forgotten by people who donate to food banks.
“If the food banks weren’t there I don’t know what these families would do, it is all volunteer dependant but you have to presume at some point that those volunteers may not be there anymore.”
The number of people in need is the highest the Trussell Trust has ever seen it and the numbers are only increasing.
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