'A whole generation has grown up where sustained high levels of food bank need feel like the norm'

Charity urges action as demand rises by half in 5 years

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THE number of emergency food parcels given out across the UK has risen by more than half in the past five years, according to a charity.

Food bank network Trussell urged the Government to row back on its welfare reform plans, which it described as a 'harmful' policy choice and said Labour risks a legacy of rising food bank need and child poverty.

There were almost 2.9 million emergency food parcels handed out in the year to March 2025, the charity said.

The latest figure of 2,885,086 is a 51 per cent rise on the 1,909,345 parcels that were given out in the year to March 2020.

Trussell said the figures also show struggles for families, with the charity saying there has been a 46 per cent rise in emergency food parcels provided to families with children, and a 32 per cent rise in parcels to support children under the age of five since 2020.

The most recent overall number is down on last year's record high of 3,126,479 parcels.

Food parcel demand fell in each of the four UK nations, to 2,396,853 in England, 239,503 in Scotland, 171,673 in Wales, and 77,057 in Northern Ireland.