Food bank charity sees "tsunami of need" as people struggle with cost of living
The Trussell Trust says 2022 has been its busiest time yet
Food bank charity the Trussell Trust says it's had its busiest ever period between April and September this year.
Around 116,000 emergency food parcels were distributed to people in Scotland - a 34% increase on last year.
40,000 children were included in the figure - a 29% increase.
The charity said this represents the most parcels ever distributed to households with children.
Figures, compiled by an Ipsos poll of more than 2000 adults who visited food banks during this time, also show about 27,000 people were referred for the first time, highlighting a 33% increase from 2021.
Almost 1.3 million emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship across the UK in the same period, prompting a "tsunami of need" across the country, as people struggle to cope with the rising cost of living.
Supply and demand
The need for food is outstripping the number of donations that the Trussell Trust's 121 food banks are receiving.
This has prompted the charity to launch an emergency appeal to ensure "alarming" levels of need in the community can be met.
Food banks are at "breaking point" both physically and mentally, the charity warned, and are set to face the hardest year yet as they expect to provide 7,000 emergency food parcels a day on average across the UK in the next six months.
Research to be released by the Trussell Trust next year finds one in five people referred to a food bank in the UK live in households where at least one person is in work.
Cost of living
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to deliver the autumn budget next week and the charity is calling for the UK Government to "act decisively" to support individuals in hardship.
A cost-of-living payment in July tied in with a brief dip in need at food banks.
However, the charity argued that short-term interventions are "not sustainable" for the Government or dignified for people who are struggling.
"Everyone in Scotland should be able to afford the essentials - to buy their own food and heat their homes," said Polly Jones, who is head of the Trussell Trust in Scotland.
"...this represents the most parcels ever distributed to households with children."
Ms Jones urged the Scottish Government to take further action to deliver "immediate and direct" cash support to households as well as urgently publishing an overdue national plan to end the need for food banks.
A UK Treasury spokesperson said: "Countries around the world are facing rising costs, driven by Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and we know this is affecting people here in the UK.
"The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save the typical household around £700 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap. In addition, we have provided at least an extra £1,200 of cost-of-living support to eight million of the most vulnerable households.
A Scottish Government spokesman said it was "doing what we can to help families" and was "very concerned about the hardship people are facing as a result of the cost-of-living crisis".
"We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to help households face the increased cost of living, including £1 billion in providing services and financial support not available elsewhere in the UK," the spokesman said.
"The Scottish Child Payment will double to £25 per eligible child per week from next Monday, when it is also open to applications from eligible under-16s. This represents a 150% increase within eight months and is an annual support of £1,300 per child for eligible families.
"We will continue to urge the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost-of-living crisis on the scale required, including access to borrowing, providing benefits and support to households, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits and regulation of the energy market.