Charity says there's a 'real concern' over rise in food parcels in Oxfordshire
Over 12,000 emergency food parcels have been handed out by food banks in Oxfordshire in the six months to September
Food banks across the South East handed out over a hundred and fifty three thousand emergency food parcels between April and September this year.
New data from the Trussell Trust shows that's almost a hundred thousand more than was needed over the same period five years ago in 2018.
The charity also shows that over 12,000 emergency food parcels have been handed out in our county this year.
There has been a slight decrease in figures seen since 2023 though.
"We're still seeing an increasing number of people facing hardship"
Amy Wisenfeld's their Network lead for the South East:
"We've seen a really small decrease of 8% compared to the same period in 2023, but when you compare that to the 78% increase from five years ago, we've still seeing an increasing number of people facing hadship who don't have the money in their pocket for the essentials."
The data for Oxfordshire, in more detail:
Total parcels (April 1st to Sept 30th 2018)
64,410
Total parcels (April 1st to Sept 30th 2024)
153,101
(Difference: 88,691)
**
Parcels given to adults (April 1st to Sept 30th 2018)
6,927
Parcels given to adults (April 1st to Sept 30th 2024)
13,295
(Difference: 6,368)
**
Parcels given to children (April 1st to Sept 30th 2018)
41,256
Parcels given to children (April 1st to Sept 30th 2024)
95,578
(Difference: 54,322)
**
Total number of foodbanks (2018)
148
Total number of foodbanks (2024)
200
(Difference: 52)
What's the Government said on this?
In their 2024 election-winning manifesto, The Labour Party said:
"Labour is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty. We want to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels, which is a moral scar on our society."