Blackburn families using food banks more than pre-pandemic

Demand for emergency food parcels in Blackburn with Darwen remains above pre-pandemic levels after figures from the Trussell Trust show 17,265 emergency food parcels were handed out to people in the borough in the year to March.

In that time, 46 per cent – or 7,859 – of the parcels handed out in Blackburn with Darwen were given to children.

The Trussell Trust said that more people are using foodbanks that before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

This was an increase from 12,785 emergency food parcels distributed in the year to March 2021, and was up 53 per cent on the 11,285 provided in the year to March 2020, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Trussell Trust, a charity tackling poverty in the UK, has warned food bank use has accelerated in the past six months, as the rising cost-of-living hits pockets.

Spiralling inflation - with food costs up and petrol and household energy prices rocketing all while wages continue to stagnate and fail to keep pace - means people's budgets are being stretched with families forced to cut back on spending, often on essentials such as food or heating their homes.

Blackburn Foodbank, operated by the Trussell Trust

Chief executive Emma Revie said: “People are telling us they’re skipping meals so they can feed their children. How can this be right in a society like ours?

“No one’s income should fall so dangerously low that they cannot afford to stay fed, warm and dry.”

Due to independent food banks and the work of other organisations and charities, the Trussell Trust has warned figures do not show the full extent of food poverty.

The Department for Work and Pensions said it recognises the pressures on the cost of living and is "doing what it can" to help, such as spending £22 billion across the next financial year to support people with energy bills and fuel duty.