New figures released today by the Trussell Trust reveal that almost 3 million (2,986,203) emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023, with more than a million of these parcels provided for children.
This is the most parcels food banks in the charity's UK-wide network, of which this church is now a part, have ever distributed in a single year and represents a 37% increase compared to last year.
The annual statistics also show that as an increasing number of people struggle to afford the essentials, more than 760,000 people used a food bank in the Trussell Trust network for the first time – this is more than the population of Sheffield and a 38% increase in people who have needed support for the first time, compared to the same period last year.
The levels of need were particularly acute in winter, and December 2022 was the busiest month on record for the network, with a parcel being distributed by staff and volunteers across the country every eight seconds.
Currently our Monday evening Foodbank are asking for donations of: Longlife sponge puddings, longlife fruit juice, table sauces, tinned meat, biscuits, tea/coffee, UHT milk, instant mash, tinned tomatoes, pasta sauce, rice pudding, custard, tinned fruit & tinned fish.
For more information on the Trussell Trust findings, click here.
Aylesbury Methodist Church & Centre
Buckingham Street
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire
HP20 2NQ