News

Emergency food supply use jumps by 29% in the last year

26th April 2019

In the last year we’ve given out 2,458 three-day emergency food supply packages to local people in crisis feeding  5,294 people, 38% of whom were children.

This represents a 29% increase in the number of emergency food supply packages handed out between April 2018 and March this year, compared to the same period in 2017-18.

Everyone we give an emergency food parcel to is referred to us by a partner agency and in 2018-19 the main reasons people were referred us were benefit delay/change, low income and being refused a crisis grant. Other reasons for referrals included domestic violence, debt, homelessness, delayed wages, sickness, refused a short-term benefit advance, and absence of free school meals during school holidays.

Our figures feed into a larger national picture with a record increase in food bank use across the UK reported today by the Trussell Trust. During the past year, 1,583,668 three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis in the UK; More than half a million of these (577,618) went to children. This is an 18.8% increase on the previous year. Read more here.

 

No one in East Lothian should need a food bank’s help and we want to see an end to local people needing emergency food at all. Until we reach a future where food banks are no longer needed, we’ll continue to provide vital support when it matters most. We’re dedicated to ensuring that people in our community without enough money for food are able to access emergency support. Our vital work in the community has only been possible in the last year because of the incredible generosity shown by local people in donating food, time and funds.

Thank you!

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