114,000 food parcels distributed in six months in the South West

The number of food parcels distributed in south-west England since 2019 has increased by 62% in five years, a charity says.

The Trussell Trust added that its community of food banks across the region, including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, distributed over 114,100 emergency food parcels between April and September 2024.

The data showed this included 15,763 packages distributed in Cornwall and 6,484 packages in Plymouth.

The charity said 63 per cent of food parcels distributed in England will be distributed to households with children of all ages up to the age of 16.

Trussell CEO Emma Revie said: “It is heartbreaking that there are still so many people facing hunger and hardship in the South West.

“This cannot go on and we refuse to stand by while so many of us are pushed to the brink, left without enough money to get by.”

The trust added that the total number of packages provided across the UK was 67,000 fewer than the same period last year, representing a 4% decrease.

But he said emergency food needs remained high and the number of parcels supplied across the UK was 69% more than in the same period in 2019.

Trussell said he was working with communities, food banks and charities including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to call on the UK government to take urgent action.

Ms Revie said: “Promising steps have been taken, but if we are to end hunger once and for all, we need a clearer plan with more decisive action to invest in our social security system.”

A government spokesman said: “Mass dependence on food banks is unacceptable, which is why we have again expanded the Household Support Fund to help families struggling with basic needs.

“Alongside this, we are helping more than a million households by increasing the national living wage, increasing benefits and introducing a fair repayment rate on Universal Credit deductions, as our Child Poverty Task Force develops an ambitious strategy to give all children the best start in life.”