Inside a food bank at the busiest time of year, with a mother forced to eat children’s pizza crusts to get by

More than 320,000 people in the UK have needed to use a food bank for the first time in the last six months (PA Wire)

A mother forced to eat the crusts from her children’s pizza for dinner is just one of the agonising stories to be heard in the UK’s growing number of food banks.

The Trussell Trust, an anti-poverty charity that operates a network of some 1,400 food banks across the country, is planning to give out more than a million emergency food parcels this winter.

In the last 18 months, it has distributed 4,483,050 parcels across the UK, as the trust estimates that more than 320,000 people have needed to use a food bank for the first time in the last six months.

In the last month, Trussell Trust Kingston has handed out 558 parcels to 784 adults and 357 children

(Trussell Trust)

The Independent visited Trussell Trust Kingston to meet volunteers and clients, many of whom find themselves using a service that they would once have been donating to.

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While many of the food bank users at Kingston are single parents, volunteers said it is increasingly common for people in full-time employment to use its services, including NHS workers and even schoolteachers.

Nikki, who lives in Sussex, spoke to The Independent about the embarrassment she felt when first using a food bank after she was made redundant during the pandemic.

“I’m a single mum, and my three children are the most important thing in my life,” she said. “When you don’t have enough to afford the essentials, it’s very depressing. When I went to the food bank, I felt so humiliated, even though I know it’s there for a reason.

“It was so embarrassing having to ask for food for my family. I never thought I’d be [in that situation]. I didn’t want people to know I was there, either.”

At Trussell Trust Kingston, there were 20 volunteers preparing to distribute dozens of food parcels within an hour

(Trussell Trust)

She continued: “Winter brought extra pressures with it, like the rising cost of fuel and energy. All our bills had gone through the roof. It was harder to make ends meet – I was struggling to cover everything. I was going without stuff; the kids would tell me they were hungry, but the cupboards were empty.

“You feel like you’re letting your kids down. When you’re having to live on a pittance, trying to run a household and feed a house full of children on nothing, it just makes you want to not be here. My kids have never gone to bed without meals, but I have so that they can eat. Some nights, all I eat is the leftover pizza crusts from my children’s dinner.

“It makes you feel bad as a mum, because what are you supposed to do? I can’t go to work because my health’s too bad, so now I’m stuck in this trap.”

Another food bank user, Karen, has been coming to the Kingston branch for a year after being forced to retire because of medical issues.

She said: “I’ve worked all my life, and not being able to work is a very weird feeling for me. When I first stopped working, I was unable to claim benefits because I had some savings. It wasn’t until I’d used all of it up that I was able to access the disability allowance.

“I never thought I would be using a food bank. It was so alien to me when I first came, and I was very embarrassed. But I had to – I had no other choice.

“As the time has gone by, that shame has stopped – the people here are lovely and it’s a great community. The volunteers make you feel very comfortable and safe. I burst into tears when I realised the people are here to help. I’m not used to receiving help, but the food bank has saved me.”

What is food poverty?

In 2021/22 there were 4.7 million people, or 7 per cent of the UK population, in food poverty, including 12 per cent of children.

• A household can be broadly defined as experiencing food poverty, or “household food insecurity”, if it cannot acquire “an adequate quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways”
• The term “food insecure” refers to individuals/households who ate less or went a day without eating because they couldn’t access or afford food
• A YouGov survey by the Food Foundation found in June 2023 that 17 per cent (11.4m) of UK households were food insecure
• Many people using food banks have “no recourse to public funds” status (NRPF), a condition attached to work, family and study visas that restricts access to much of the welfare safety net for almost 1.4 million people, including around 175,000 children. This includes state benefits, like universal credit, and social housing
• Nearly 1 in 5 people with NRPF status have been unable to feed themselves or their household because of the policy, according to research by Citizens Advice

The Trussell Trust is not the only operator of food banks in the UK. In addition to its network of almost 1,400 centres, there are more than 1,100 independent food banks across the country. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that more than a quarter of universities now have a food bank service, and one in 10 give out vouchers.

Emma Revie, Trussell Trust chief executive said: “An increasing number of children are growing up in families facing hunger, forced to turn to food banks to survive. A generation is growing up believing that it’s normal to see a food bank in every community. This is not right.

“People in work, as well as people who cannot work, are increasingly being pushed into debt and forced to turn to a food bank to survive.

“The UK government must build on its work to protect people from increasingly severe hardship, and commit to putting an essentials guarantee into legislation, to embed in our social security system the widely supported principle that, at a minimum, universal credit should protect people from going without essentials.”

The Department for Work and Pensions said it had made support worth £4.8bn available to pensioners through winter fuel and cost-of-living payments between 21 November and 7 December.

Officials said that 99 per cent of those eligible had received the available financial support, with payments to continue until 26 January. Households on means-tested benefits have been eligible for cost-of-living support worth up to £900 in the 2023/24 financial year, with a final payment of £299 due to be paid in February.