UK food banks gearing up for pre-festive period peak

The warehouse at the One Can Trust food charity in High Wycombe, 30 miles northwest of London, is packed from floor to ceiling with everyday essentials. They range from fruit, vegetables and eggs to cereals, beans, spices, toiletries and - of course - seasonal Christmas treats. 

Much of this is down to the generosity of the local community, who help the charity support around 500 people a week in south Buckinghamshire. A team of volunteers picks and packs bespoke food parcels for delivery, each one designed to create three meals a day for seven days for a household. 

"We're here for anybody in south Bucks who is struggling to put food on the table right now," says One Can Trust's Operations Manager Jo Belshaw. "We provide emergency food support for up to four weeks and then beyond that – if someone requires further support, we will repeat the cycle for as many times as necessary."

Despite a drop in UK inflation, food prices remain out of reach for those facing financial hardship. National anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust says it handed out more than 1.42 million emergency food parcels in the six months from April to September – and almost half of those receiving support were children. 

"That's a 69 percent increase compared to the number of emergency food parcels that were given out by Trussell in the same period just five years ago and it's very close to record levels of need," says Beatrice Orchard, a Senior Policy Manager at the Trussell Trust.

The cost-of-living crisis is essentially derived from high housing, fuel and food costs. But there are other factors - accumulated debt, insecure income such as zero-hours contracts, and low, stagnant wages. Those who depend on welfare payments find they have not kept up with real living costs. 

"Hunger in the UK is not a problem of access to food. It's very much an income problem," says Orchard. "Eighty-six percent of people seeking support from food banks in the Trussell community are on incomes so low that they're unable to afford to eat and stay warm and clean at the same time. They're facing such deep levels of poverty."

The number of people in need is expected to increase ahead of Christmas – and the One Can Trust is adapting in preparation.

"In addition to the everyday parcels, we're going to be putting hampers out to our clients," says Belshaw. "They're going to get some Christmas puddings and mince pies, some chocolates and some nuts and all sorts of lovely things – because numbers will rise and they won't necessarily have money, those families, to put all those extra lovely goodies on the table." 

The One Can Trust charity also provides more comprehensive community support for those facing hardship, with debt management, counselling, a community café, clothing and cookery classes and much more. 

"I wish there were a lot of different things that meant people had cash in their pockets, so they wouldn't have to come to us for support," says Belshaw. "I only hope that situation changes very soon. But in the meantime, we're here to help, for anyone who is struggling right now."

Despite the plentiful goodwill on offer, charities say this level of food poverty cannot continue. 

"We need to see change," says Orchard. "There are appalling levels of hunger and hardship in our communities right across the UK. And that's not something that we want to accept, because we know change is possible."