Trussell Trust forecasting huge increase in demand for rest of the year

It's being warned that all food banks around the country, including the one in Salisbury, are expecting to give out a total of six emergency food parcels a minute in October to December.

The Trussell Trust are forecasting a 61% rise in the number of parcels needed across the UK.

Analysis carried out by Heriot-Watt University with support from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research shows that changes need to be made in the Autumn to avoid this happening.

The charity say that with mass unemployment predicted on a huge scale, there will be an additional 670,000 people classed as destitute by the end of 2020.

Since the pandemic hit the UK in March, food banks around the country have already seen an increased demand for their services, especially families using it for the first time.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said:

"Communities throughout the country have shown enormous resilience in helping more people than ever before. But food banks and other community charities cannot continue to pick up the pieces. None of us should need a charity's help to put food on the table.

Our research finds that Covid-19 has led to tens of thousands of new people needing to use a food bank for the first time. This is not right. If we don't take action now, there will be further catastrophic rises in poverty in the future.

But it doesn't have to be like this. The pandemic has exposed the power of what happens when we stand together in the face of adversity. We must harness this power to create the changes needed to prevent many more people being locked into poverty this winter. With the furlough scheme set to wind down, we must act now to put in place protection for each other. The Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review present a pivotal opportunity to put things right. We must take it to help us weather the storm left in the wake of Covid-19."

The Trussell Trust say that the government's job retention scheme has helped keep lots of families away, but with these set to end, they are calling on them to ensure everyone is protected.

The charity believes there should be no higher priority than preserving the lifelines that have saved many of us from destitution through this pandemic. It points to this autumn's budget and Comprehensive Spending Review as an opportunity to:

• Protect people's incomes by locking in the £20 rise to Universal Credit brought in at the start of the pandemic

• Help people hold on to more of their benefits through the economic crisis by suspending benefit debt deductions until a fairer approach to repayments can be introduced

• Make local safety nets as strong as possible by investing £250m in local welfare assistance in England

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• TRUSSELL TRUST
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