Two thirds of food banks may have to turn people away or reduce parcel sizes, poll finds

Two thirds of food banks may need to turn people away or reduce the size of their parcels to keep on catering for increasing demand in the cost of living crisis, according to a new poll.

Most have seen a rise in customers since spring as budgets continue to be stretched by soaring prices and bills, according to the survey by the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN).

Food bank managers told The Independent earlier this month they had run out of food this summer, with some reducing parcels and considering capping numbers.

Workers have now warned the cost of living crisis was a “danger to many” and fear the situation will get even worse in the winter months, with a further energy bill rise on the horizon.

More than 2 million parcels were handed out by food bank network The Trussell Trust in the year up to spring - a 14 per cent rise on pre-pandemic levels.

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Since then, households have been put under more financial pressure with inflation hitting 40-year highs and increased energy bills - with a further 80 per cent increase on the cards for later this year. Official figures show wages have been failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Nearly 90 per cent of independent food banks have seen an increase in demand since April, according to an IFAN poll spanning 169 food banks earlier this month.

This was on top of already unprecedented increases seen since the Universal Credit uplift of £20 extra per week in the Covid pandemic was removed the autumn before, the food bank network said.

More than two thirds of those polled said they may not be able to support everyone who needs their help or may end up having to reduce the size of their food parcels to cope with increasing demand.

Sonya Antoniou-Pamment from Olive Branch Aid, a charity in London which hands out food parcels, said: “Like many organisations we know that the coming months as winter begins to bite will be the hardest one yet for many.

“We also know that our volunteers will find it difficult as we will only have resources to be able to help a fraction of the people we are expecting to see in difficulties this winter.”

IFAN, which represents 550 independent food banks in the UK, said its members were also struggling with fewer food and financial donations.

They were also increasingly supporting people who were using food banks for the first time and facing a choice between heating and eating, it said.

Kathy Bland from Leominster Food Bank said her group was “extremely worried about the autumn” and the number of Britons who will need support. “This should be coming from the central government in the form of increased income not from food banks,” she said.

Sabine Goodwin from IFAN said: “Relying on overburdened food banks and their volunteers to alleviate food poverty temporarily is both unconscionable and unsustainable. It’s for the government to ensure the basic needs of its citizens are met, not food aid charities buckling under the strain.”

The Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions have been approached for comment.

This article was amended on 1 September 2022. It originally referred to Olive Branch Aid as a Lancaster-based charity, but it is based in London.