More Manunians are banking on food handouts
Emergency food hand-outs reach record levels in Greater Manchester
Food bank use remains at record levels, with more than 50,000 parcels of emergency supplies given out by a leading charity in Greater Manchester last year, figures have revealed.
The Trussell Trust said there was a 2% increase in three-day supplies provided to people from its food banks in the 2015/16 financial year.
On average people were referred to food banks twice in the past year and almost half of its sites saw an increase in the number of people needing emergency supplies because of benefit sanctions, while other problems included low wages, high living costs or insecure work contracts.
Trust chief executive David McAuley said: Today's figures prove that the numbers of people hitting a crisis where they cannot afford to buy food are still far too high.
Reducing UK hunger will require a collective effort from the voluntary sector, Government, businesses and the public, and the Trussell Trust is keen to work with all these groups to find solutions that stop so many people needing food banks in future.''
The report said there was a clear link between food bank use and areas of high deprivation.
Most of the trust's food banks also offer legal and welfare advice, housing support and clothes.
The trust said its figures do not reveal the full scale of food poverty in the UK because other groups also offer food aid.
A Government spokesman said: Reasons for foodbank use are complex so it is misleading to link them to any one thing.
This Government is determined to move to a higher-wage society, introducing the new National Living Wage that will benefit over one million workers directly this year, and we're also spending ÂŁ80 billion on working-age benefits to ensure a strong safety net for those who need it most.
The vast majority of benefits are processed on time and the number of sanctions have actually gone down.''
Shadow environment, food and rural affairs secretary Kerry McCarthy said: It is a national scandal that food bank usage is continuing to rise."
PL