More employed people turning to Wiltshire foodbank for help
A new report by Trussell has found 14.1 million people in the UK faced hunger due to a lack of money in 2024
A Wiltshire foodbank says more people are accessing its service for help as cost of living continues put pressure on people's finances.
It comes as Trussell releases it's latest report into hardship in the UK, revealing 14.1 million faced hunger in 2024 due to financial strain - a 2.5 million rise from the previous research in 2022.
The report also uncovers that three in 10 people referred to a foodbank are employed, raising concerns that having a job isn't enough to allow people to get by.
The charity is calling for Government action, in the form of scrapping the two-child benefit limit as well as ensuring people in privately rented accommodation are given adequate support to help them survive by uprating Local Housing Allowance in line with current rent levels.
A DWP spokesperson said: “This Government is determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in food bank dependence.
“In addition to extending free school meals and ensuring the poorest children don’t go hungry in the holidays with £1billion to reform crisis support, our Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy later this year.
“We are also overhauling jobcentres and reforming the broken welfare system to support people into good, secure jobs, while always protecting those who need it most.”
"Worrying" reliance on foodbanks
Devizes and District Foodbank manager, Sue Underwood, says it's a picture they're seeing too.
She told us more families and single people are using the foodbank.
"It's people from all walks of life, not just families who are on benefits, it's families who are working," she said.
Sue added: "I think also because there's been more food banks in the media, people are more aware of what they can access now. So they are coming to us to get the support they actually need."
It's a concerning trend, with Sue saying it's "worrying" that people are becoming "very reliant" on foodbanks.
She told us: "They're paying their bills and finding that they've got nothing left at the end of the week or the month to buy food with, which is one of the basic necessities that they need for life. And it's even things like toiletries that they don't have the money for.
"These are people that obviously don't want to be using foodbanks and they're doing everything right by paying their bills. But if they've got nothing left at the end of the month, they don't really know what else to do."
Sue said people's support of foodbanks has never been needed more, with volunteers required to help pack food parcels, deliver them to homes and meet with clients referred to the foodbank.
"Without them we couldn't do this job," she said.
And the strain on foodbanks could increase further as more people slip below the poverty line, while donations are also dropping.
Sue revealed that she'd been forced to use cash donations to buy food in.
"Our donations have been dropping, probably because people can't afford that extra to give to other people because they're having to watch their own finances that actually they haven't got the extra to give, whereas before they did," she said.
Sue added: "We've noticed that over the last two or three months, we're actually having to buy food in, whereas we didn't have to before, which is obviously coming out of our food bank donations. So if we're starting to use the money to buy the food as well, we're going to start struggling to pay our bills as well."