Soaring demand for Mid Sussex food banks highlighted by new Trussell Trust figures amid cost of living crisis

The charity says it’s witnessing an accelerating crisis across the UK as the need for emergency food dramatically increased in the past six months. This follows the £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit and the soaring rise in living costs that people are facing.

New figures released today reveal food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network provided more than 2.1 million parcels to people facing financial hardship across the country, from April 1 2021 to March 31 2022. This represents a 14 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2019/20 – before the pandemic – as more and more people are unable to afford the absolute essentials that we all need to eat, stay warm, dry and clean. This is the first time food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network have provided more than 2 million parcels, outside of 2020/21, at the height of the pandemic. 

 Alarmingly, more than 830,000 parcels were provided for children, representing a 15 per cent increase from 2019/20 when 720,000 were provided. 

In Mid Sussex food banks provided a total of 6,782 parcels in 2021/22, of which 3,259 were to children.

In 2020-21 demand peaked with 7,753 parcels being distributed, with 3,867 of those going to children.

This compares to 4,544 given out in 2019/2020, before the pandemic struck. In that year, 2,095 parcels were given to children.

Analysis by the JPIMedia data team shows that in 2020/21 Mid Sussex distributed 4,458 parcels per 100,000 people and was ranked 17th in the South East.

But the difference between the figures in 2019/20 before the pandemic, and 2021/22 shows a shocking 49 per cent increase in demand.

The Trussell Trust says its food banks managers are now warning of an accelerating crisis across the UK following the cut to Universal Credit, as the cost of living continues to soar. 

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