Food banks warn demand has reached crisis point as cost of living bites

Food banks in the UK warn demand has reached crisis point as the cost of living bites. More than 14.1 million people went hungry in the last year because of poverty, up from 11.6 million in 2022, according to the latest Trussell Trust statistics.

Nourish Community Foodbank, which helps people across Tunbridge Wells and south Tonbridge in Kent, said the situation had reached crisis point. Dawn Stanford, Nourish's operations director, said the charity was at a crisis point. 'It's a pretty depressing picture,' she said. 'We are facing the worst crisis since we started 13 years ago.' 'I think we have seen a 37% increase in referrals this year.' She said the monetary donations they were getting were not enough, adding: 'We are facing hard decisions in the coming months to ensure we will be here next year.' The cost of living crisis, she added, meant people were not able to donate in the way they once could; it was once sustained entirely by them. 'Now we are getting about 25% donated and we are having to purchase 75% to cover referrals.'

At Faversham Food Bank chairman of trustees Dominic Deeson said they had also seen a drop in donations. 'This is the cost of living crisis, food inflation and so forth,' he said. 'People are kind to us but they are struggling themselves in some cases.' Deeson noted they were still getting enough, but things were getting harder. 'We are getting closer to having to buy food to keep up with demand.' 'We have not quite got there, but I can see it coming. For the first time we are asking people in Faversham to give us financial donations.'

This summer Kent County Council started a food voucher scheme for struggling families, but applications for that closed on 26 August. In May the Trussell Trust said a 56% increase in food parcels given to families with children in the South East in the last five years should be a wake-up call. The Department for Work and Pensions said: 'This government is determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence. In addition to extending free school meals and ensuring the poorest children don't go hungry in the holidays with £1bn to reform crisis support, our Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy later this year.' KCC has been approached for comment.