Lambeth food banks feed 25,000

New figures released today reveal our Lambeth Foodbank Partnership has distributed 25,267 emergency food parcels to people facing hardship across Lambeth in the last year – with 9634 of these going to children.

The Lambeth Foodbank Partnership has seen a 15% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year.

Elizabeth Maytom MBE, Project Lead at the Norwood and Brixton Foodbank said:

We’re upset but not surprised to see yet another increase in the number of people using our Foodbank. People are struggling to afford the basics like electricity and gas and of course the increase in food costs has really hit people. We’re pleased that we have been able to provide a lifeline to so many but are concerned we will soon struggle to keep up with the demand. We’re so grateful for donations made by the local community and we ask for their continued support in this difficult climate.

Sebastian who is a home owner and has fallen in to arrears with his mortgage has been forced to use our food bank on multiple occasions this winter. He said:

“I didn’t think it would be this tough. I’ve been unemployed for some time but I’ve never needed to use a food bank. Everything just costs too much. Without the food and the sim card I got from the food bank I wouldn’t have survived the winter. I have a job starting in May so I hope things will get easier for me. I worry for those who don’t have a job.”

The Lambeth Foodbank Partnership is a collaboration between the Norwood and Brixton Foodbank, Waterloo Foodbank and Clapham Park Foodbank. It is part of the Trussell Trust’s network, which reports record levels of need in the last 12 months with almost 3 million (2,986,203) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023. More than a million of these parcels were provided for children.

Speaking about the rising need for emergency food, Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said:

“These new statistics are extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people are being left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right. The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing low levels of income and a social security system that isn’t fit for purpose that are forcing more people to need food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Lambeth Foodbank Partnership was set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency, they are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist.

“The staff and volunteers at The Lambeth Foodbank Partnership are working tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available, but the current situation is not one they can solve alone.

“For too long, the people of Lambeth have been going without because social security payments do not reflect life’s essential costs and people are being pushed deeper into hardship as a result. If we are to stop this continued growth and end the need for food banks then the UK government must ensure that the standard allowance of Universal Credit is always enough to cover essential costs.”

To help ensure that everyone has the income they need to afford the essentials, the Trussell Trust has joined with Joseph Rowntree Foundation in urging the UK government to embed in law an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ that would make sure Universal Credit payments always, at a minimum, provide enough to the cover cost of essentials such as food, utilities and vital household goods.

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