Norfolk foodbank warns they're on course to face their busiest winter ever
The Trussell Trust predicts more than 600,000 people across the country will need support of a foodbank this winter
A foodbank in Norfolk is warning the recent climb in demand means they're on course to face their busiest winter ever.
It follows the national charity - The Trussell Trust - predicting that more than 600 thousand people across the country will need support of a foodbank this winter.
They're also forecasting that UK foodbanks could give out a total of more than one million emergency food parcels this winter - a record number.
Their prediction is based on the demand they've seen during the summer, with an increase in need between April and mid-September.
"We are spending about a thousand pounds a week on food"
Helen Gilbert is project manager at King's Lynn foodbank:
"Food donations are not keeping pace with demand and haven't done so for probably about a year or so. But the financial donations help us to plug the gap, so currently we are spending about a thousand pounds a week on food.
"In September we had a 15% bump up on the previous September and if you take those figures forwards, it means that over the winter we're looking at feeding an average of nearly 900 people a month, something we've never experienced before"
"We need the Government to increase benefits, but also just to provide more long-term support for people. There needs to be changes to planning regulations so that people aren't left in rental properties that are not adequate."
"Food banks are not the answer in the long term"
Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said:
"We don't want to spend every winter saying things at food banks are getting worse, but they are.
"Food banks are not the answer in the long term, but while we continue to fight for the change that could mean they can be closed for good your local food bank urgently needs your support.
"They need donations of food for emergency parcels, and money to fund costs such as the purchasing of food to meet the shortfall in donations they are currently experiencing.
"One in seven people in the UK face hunger because they don't have enough money to live on. That's not the kind of society we want to live in, and we won't stand by and let this continue.
"Every year we are seeing more and more people needing food banks, and that is just not right. Together, we have roots into hundreds of communities, and while someone facing hunger can't change the structural issues driving the need for food banks on their own, thousands of us coming together can.
"We must end hunger across the UK so that no one needs a food bank to survive."
There's also a plea for communities to provide more donations and support for their local foodbanks.
The Trussell Trust say donations are stable, despite the growing need.
A survey of 282 of their foodbanks has found that in the last three months, 93% had to purchase food to keep up with the rising levels of demand, while almost one in three (32%) were concerned about being able to continue running at their current level in the coming months.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, has repeated a call made by various charities and children's organisations for free school meals to be extended to all pupils to try to tackle poverty and child hunger which he said 'have tremendous social and moral costs':
"That food banks are gearing up to support even more people than last winter is a damning sign that the Government has failed to support people through the cost-of-living crisis and presided over a decline in living standards."
The government says financial support is available for those who are struggling with the cost of living.