Premier can exclusively reveal that the country’s largest foodbank operator expects to see a 13 per-cent rise in demand for emergency provisions on Christmas Day, compared with last year.
Chief Executive of the Trussell Trust, Mark Ward said: “We’ve been trying to help to combat this problem for a very long time now and, for various different reasons, the number of people that need help continues to rise.”
In excess of 23,500 people collected a three-day food parcel from the Christian charity between 22nd and 24th December last year.
Earlier this year, bosses named the roll out of Universal Credit as a key factor fuelling the growing demand for foodbank use – a claim the Government challenged, saying it was unfair to attribute the trend to a single issue.
Redundancy, the loss of a loved one, welfare problems and an unexpected bill are all commonly-cited reasons for why people turn to foodbanks.
Founder of the Hammersmith and Fulham Foodbank, Daphine Aikens told Premier some clients would be left in desperate situations when they arrive.
She said: “Some people do say that they would commit a crime [if they could not access a foodbank].
“Others report that they will try to stay warm and sleep through the hunger pains, they will borrow, they will just go without.”
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