Leeds foodbank usage increases by 20% in a year

As the prices of weekly food shops and other bills increase, more and more people are turning to food banks to provide for their families.

In Leeds, there has been a 66% increase in food bank usage from 2020 to 2023 according to The Trussell Trust, a nationwide foodbank service.

8,563 parcels were delivered to those who couldn’t afford the essentials in South and East Leeds alone.

Leeds South and East Food Bank, who are part of the Trussell Trust network, have said: “This isn’t right and we can’t allow this to go on. No one should need the support of our food bank because everyone in our local community should be able to live lives free from hardship and poverty.”

This year, the Trussell Trust network provided around 1.5 million emergency food parcels to people who were in desperate need in the UK. This was 16% higher than in 2022.

One reason for the increase is the cost of living crisis. Rebecca Simpson, the office and finance manager at the foodbank, We Are Queensbury, said: “Before the cost of living crisis, we were doing an average of 17 parcels a day, now we do around 30.”

Simpson also explained: “We’ve had families come in that have said that without us they won’t be able to feed their kids. Every person, age, sex or situation you can think of comes through this door.”

Simpson said that the only way for this situation to improve is if “the cost of food and bills is reduced but also working families need more financial support from the government.”

Jacqui Warner, the foodbank coordinator from Soup and More foodbank located in Little London, Leeds said: “We have seen many changes largely due to the cost of living crisis, people who are in full-time work accessing the Foodbank. And people coming from all areas of the city using our services.”

The cost of living crisis has not only impacted food banks in terms of the amount of people who rely on them but also the amount of donations they receive.

Simpson said: “Donations from the public aren’t as much as they used to be in both food and monetary, so we are worried what will happen when these stop completely.”

Warner explained that: “we always seem to have a shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables and have noticed a large decline in donations, especially from supermarkets.”

As the festive season approaches, many food banks are now having to rely on external funding to ensure they can provide food for those in need.