Nearly 22,000 people in Bradford have accessed an emergency food parcel this year
It's increased by around 9 thousand people since the pandemic started
In the last year alone (1st April 2020- 31st March 2021), nearly 22 thousand people from Bradford accessed an emergency food parcel.
Last year, before the pandemic started, the situation looked slightly different, with almost 13 thousand being provided.
Graham Walker from Bradford Metropolitan food bank said:
"There has been no slow down at all.
"The furlough will seize in July, people will find themselves unemployed, who have never before been unemployed, there's no guarantee that universal credit won't be cut, from October the Brexit regulations kick in some what.
"They'll be a shortage of food and the cost of food will go up, so as it stands, unless the government have a change in it's policy, we are expecting things, certainly not to improve."
In Leeds the number of people accessing the emergency parcels has fallen.
During April 2019- March 2020, 31,526 were provided, this year that number fell to 21,188.
Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said:
“No one should face the indignity of needing emergency food. Yet our network of food banks across Yorkshire and the Humber have continued to provide huge numbers of emergency food parcels as more and more people struggle without enough money for the essentials.
"This is not right but we know we can build a better future. This pandemic has shown the unexpected can hit suddenly, but we know when we push for change, united by our desire for justice and compassion, the government has to listen and act."
The charity says Hunger in the UK isn’t about food, it’s about people not having enough money for the basics and with high rates of unemployment and record redundancies, more people than ever need the social security system to provide a strong enough lifeline to stay afloat.