By Rory Weal – Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager Chancellor’s decision to uprate benefits and housing costs will ease some of the pressures driving people to food banks – but long-term action is needed. Before the chancellor stood up yesterday to deliver his Autumn Statement, there had been much speculation that another disastrous squeeze on the real value of benefits was on the table. But after campaigning from a wide range of charities, including the Trussell Trust, the chancellor chose to uprate benefits by inflation, as well as significantly increase Local Housing Allowance which ma ..read more

New figures released today by the Trussell Trust reveal that 1.5 million emergency food parcels were provided to people between April and September 2023 by food banks in the charity’s UK-wide network. This is the most parcels that the network has ever distributed at this point in the year and represents a 16% increase from the same period in 2022. Low incomes, especially from social security, debt, health conditions and issues with social security payments such as delays or sanctions were the main reasons people were left with no option but to turn to a food bank for help. A record 540,000 foo ..read more

A new study commissioned by the Trussell Trust, and conducted by the Scottish Centre for Social Research, has provided information about the drivers of hunger among disabled people and the reasons behind the significant overrepresentation of disabled people referred to food banks. The report, Disability and Financial Hardship (2023), proposes a range of evidence-based policy changes to help bring about a more compassionate, person-centred and fairer disability benefits system which prevents disabled people from falling into financial hardship and needing to turn to a food bank. Why are disable ..read more

The Trussell Trust forecasts that more than 600,000 people will need the support of its food banks over a three-month period. Food banks across the Trussell Trust network are expecting to provide more than one million emergency food parcels between December 2023 and February 2024 – the most parcels ever provided across this period. This equates to an average of one food parcel every eight seconds (11,500 a day) and 7,000 people seeking support each day. Between December and February last year, these food banks supported more than 220,000 children with emergency food, and 225,000 people who nee ..read more

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. More people are being dragged into debt and having to turn to food banks to survive. This escalating hardship creates dire consequences for individuals, communities and the UK as a whole, damaging the nation’s health and holding back our economy. Over ..read more

Charities the Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) surprise commuters with billboard installation as they call on UK government to ensure Universal Credit at least covers the cost of life’s essentials Actor Charlotte Ritchie and singer-songwriter Joy Crookes join volunteers at installation to campaign for a future where everyone can afford life’s essentials TODAY anti-poverty charities the Trussell Trust and JRF transformed a billboard close to Finsbury Park tube into a “till-board” with a 48-sheet receipt roll. The giant receipt lists the typical essential costs we all incur ..read more

Emma Revie, Chief Executive of the Trussell Trust, said: “This winter has been incredibly challenging for people on the lowest incomes, and for many it has deepened the hardship they have already been facing for some time. The Trussell Trust welcomes some of the significant interventions announced by the Chancellor today that will provide some additional support to people on the lowest incomes. “The extension of the Energy Price Guarantee and the announcement of increased childcare support, particularly for people in receipt of Universal Credit, are welcomed. We know that childcare costs can b ..read more

Anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust, who oversee a network of more than 1,300 food banks, has appointed Helen Barnard as their new Director of Policy, Research and Impact. Helen, who was previously Associate Director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Research and Policy Director at Pro Bono Economics, will join the Trussell Trust on 20th March. In addition to these roles, Helen recently published a book ‘Want’ which examines some of the root causes and potential solutions to poverty in UK society. Speaking about the appointment, Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust, said: “We are del ..read 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. See how your donations have already made a difference below: We have now closed our emergency appeal, but our mission to end the need for emergency food and support our network of food banks through the c ..read more

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 ..read more