Wiltshire-based foodbank hands out record number of emergency parcels
More than 18,000 food parcels have been distributed across Wiltshire over the last year
Wiltshire-based foodbank The Trussell Trust distributed a record three million emergency food parcels nationwide last year, with 18,069 handed out in Wiltshire.
The charity has revealed these figures have doubled over the last five years. Director of Policy, Research and Impact Helen Barnard says it's not just a pandemic or cost-of-living related issue.
"We've seen it's more than 1/3 increase in a year that we've seen. But actually, I also think it's important that we look at the longer-term trend, this isn't just a pandemic effect or a cost-of-living effect.
"We looked back over the last five years and the need has been climbing steeply over that time".
Helen added that most people turning to foodbanks had exhausted all other options, such as help from friends and family, saying: "This is not the kind of life we want anyone to be trapped in".
The Trussell Trust doesn't just offer food, as Helen explained to us: "They will try and help people look at the root causes. There will be advisors there so you can get advice on whether you are getting the right benefits, for instance".
But, people are still needing foodbanks: "What we're finding is, even when people have been helped to get everything they should, the actual amount you're getting in Social Security doesn't cover the cost of essentials. It's not linked to the real cost of life".
Helen told us that a single person needs £120 per week to cover the cost of essentials, but universal credit is only offering £85, resulting in a shortfall of £35. She said that even though people had jobs, it wasn’t enough to get by.
'The effect on people's health is just appalling'
Asked how The Trussell Trust is tackling this problem, Helen called on the government to put essentials guarantee into universal credit, helped by members of the public emailing their MP’s.
Helen added that people not being able to afford essentials is fuelling other national challenges.
"When we think about this number of people who are living in destitution, the effect on people's health, is just appalling. The effect on your mental health, if you are living hand to mouth, if you're lying awake, worrying about debts, if you can't eat properly and stay warm, the effect on your mental health and your physical health is tremendous.
"The NHS is under enormous strain, we are piling pressure on it by allowing people to have to live like this, so it feels as if we are fuelling some of our other big national challenges by not dealing with this fundamental problem," she said.
Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth added that the "devastating" increase in emergency food parcels is the "price families are paying for 13 years of Tory economic failure".
'Record levels of direct financial support for the most vulnerable'
In response, a government spokesperson said: "We are committed to eradicating poverty and we recognise the pressures of the rising cost of living which is why we have uprated benefits by 10.1% as well as making an unprecedented increase to the National Living Wage this month.
"This is on top of changes already made to Universal Credit which mean claimants can keep more of their hard-earned money - a boost worth £1,000 a year on average.
"We are also providing record levels of direct financial support for the most vulnerable - £1,200 last year and a further £1,350 in 2023/24, with over eight million families starting to receive their first £301 Cost of Living instalment from yesterday - while the Household Support Fund is helping people with essential costs".