Over the past five years, the number of families with children relying on food parcels has increased by 46 percent.
Someone receives an emergency food parcel every 11 seconds in Britain. New data from Trussell, Britain’s largest food bank charity, shows that between April 2024 to March 2025, 2.9 million emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship across the UK. This equates to a parcel every 11 seconds.
Over the past five years, the number of families with children relying on food parcels has increased by 46 percent, while the families with children under five years old requiring food bank support has climbed by 32 percent.
Trussell says the figures should be a “wake-up call” for the government to strengthen the welfare system and “re-think cuts to disability payments that risk forcing more people to food banks.”
Food banks are reporting “heartbreaking” levels of hunger and hardship, with parents having to ration their own food in order to feed their children and people being so hungry, they open their food parcels before leaving the premises.
Many food banks across the country are struggling to meet the needs of their communities, with challenges with the referral process because of other local services being “stretched to breaking point.”
Karen Burgon, chief executive at Leeds North and West Foodbank said their food bank is seeing very high numbers of families, people with disabilities, working people and older people, struggling to afford the essentials. Burgon explained how food donations are failing to keep up with the amount of need, which is putting the food bank under a lot of strain.
“We have found ourselves spending up to £12,000 every month to supplement the donations we receive, which is a real worry to us as we anticipate even more people needing our support in the year ahead. It’s not right that anyone should be forced to turn to charity for emergency food,” said Burgon.
The figures come as MPs prepare to vote on the government’s proposed cut to disability benefits. Trussell warns that the changes could force even more people to turn to food banks. It explained how disabled people are already “overrepresented” at food banks and that three in four of their referrals say they or someone in their household are disabled, which puts them at a higher risk of hardship and hunger.
The charity is calling on the government to urgently update Universal Credit to make sure that everyone can afford the essentials, including moving the planned increase to the basic rate forward from April 2029 to April 2026.
Additionally, Trussell is urging the government to fulfil its commitment to a child poverty strategy that must include ending the two-child limit, a change it says would lift 470,000 children out of poverty.
“This UK government will fail to deliver on its promise to improve living standards for us all unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits and housing support and shows greater ambition on areas like the upcoming child poverty strategy and future of local crisis support. Without action, they risk leaving a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty,” says Emma Revie, Trussell’s chief executive.
Their warning coincides with cross-party calls for Keir Starmer to pause cuts to disability and health benefits. A letter from MPs, seen by ITV News, argues the changes may worsen poverty and health outcomes rather than encouraging employment.
Meanwhile, Starmer has announced a U-turn on the axing of the winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioner, telling the Commons he wants to “ensure more pensioners are eligible.”
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