Mapped: Food banks brace for busiest winter on record

The Trussell Trust network have provided 543,635 food parcels for children from April to September this year

There were 72,932 food parcels distributed in Birmingham, the highest in the UK, followed by Sheffield - 68,721. (Mary Turner/IFAN/The Welcome Centre)

The number of people receiving emergency food parcels from the Trussell Trust has significantly increased from nearly 26,000 in 2008/09 to 2.9 million in the 12 months leading up to April this year.

This year from 1 April to 30 September, 1,496,847 food parcels were distributed from the Trussell Trust’s 1,585 locations across the UK - the most they have ever handed out in a sixth month period.

This is also the first time the Trussell Trust network have provided over half a million (543,635) parcels for children in a sixth month period, with record levels of need for both children and adults so far this year.

Families with children were significantly over-represented among those who used food banks. Four in ten of the families supported by food banks included children, whilst they make up only 29% of the UK population.

Four in ten of the families supported by food banks included children (Trussell Trust )

The charity said there were multiple examples of food banks placing temporary limits on the number of referrals a person can access to manage the food bank’s resources and capacity at a time of unprecedented need.

The increases this year are linked to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis which has seen increasing numbers of people living in poverty, struggling to access electricity, and stagnating wages failing to keep up with inflation, the Trussell Trust said.

The Independent has put together this interactive map below showing the number of food parcels distributed by Trussell Trust from April 2022 - March 2023, separated into local and unitary authority areas.

Darker areas on the map show the areas where the most food parcels were handed out and lighter areas show the local authorities with the least food bank activity.

There were 72,932 food parcels distributed in Birmingham, the highest in the UK, followed by Sheffield (68,721). In third, Newcastle upon Tyne (66,193), and the London Borough of Camden with 44,709 food parcels handed out from April 2022 to March this year.

It is important to note the data Trussell Trust food banks is just one part of the picture of need across the UK. There is a wide range of charitable food aid supporting people that is not captured by the Trussell Trust.

There are also many people who are severely food insecure who do not receive support from food banks. The Trussell Trust found of the estimated 11.4 million people in the UK living with food insecurity, more than 8 million have not used any form of food aid in the last year.

The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) has identified at least 1,172 independent food banks operating across the UK, in addition to over 1,500 Trussell Trust food banks, as well as hundreds of food banks run by schools, hospitals, and the Salvation Army.

Sabine Goodwin, Director of the Independent Food Aid Network said: “It’s vital to look at the bigger picture, a fraction of households struggling with severe food insecurity actually access a food bank. Limiting analysis to food bank data alone risks underestimating the enormity of the poverty crisis in the UK.

“A widening range of ‘banks’ to alleviate poverty won’t address its root causes. It’s critical not to accept a charitable response to people’s lack of income because this modus operandi is neither effective nor sustainable.”