The number of people using our food banks because of Universal Credit is horrifying. Enough is enough Our food bank volunteers are working tirelessly day-in and day-out – but we were never meant to be such a large operation

This morning, thousands of families up and down the country will wake up with nothing to eat. Food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network gave out almost 1.6 million food parcels to people in crisis over the past year. That’s more than food banks in our country have ever given out since opening their doors 20 years ago.

We’ve spoken to people undergoing cancer treatment, veterans, people with disabilities or mental health issues, single parents and families struggling because benefits, minimum wages and zero-hours contracts no longer cover the cost of living in the UK.

Benefits cuts, freezes, and long waits for Universal Credit payments are the main reasons so many people are left unable to cover heating bills, food and other basics. This situation has steadily worsened over the past five years. Food bank use has increased insurmountably: 73 per cent across our network in the UK since 2013. In Scotland, it has soared 200 per cent.

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This increasing need is the same across all four nations of the UK. Food bank centres are helping more and more people whether you’re in Cornwall or Cardiff. Food banks in leafy counties like Surrey are seeing demand increase, as well as more deprived cities like Glasgow and Liverpool.

In the world’s fifth largest economy this is nothing short of horrifying. But we know it doesn’t have to be like this. There are things that can be done – this can change.

Ending the five week Universal Credit payment wait

Financial support for some of the most disadvantaged people in our nation has remained at the same level for the last three years, and the Government made the decision to continue this freeze for another year, all while the cost of essentials like food and housing continues to rise. But there is one change the Government could make which we know would have a huge and immediate impact – ending the five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment.

Universal Credit is not the only benefit payment people referred to food banks have experienced problems with, but issues with moving onto the new system are a significant driver of increasing need.

‘People are telling us they needed to use a food bank because they simply didn’t have enough money to last until their first payment came through’

We know almost half of the referrals made to food banks due to a delay in benefits payments were linked to Universal Credit. People are telling us they needed to use a food bank because they simply didn’t have enough money to last until their first payment came through.

Our data is clear – the wait is #5WeeksTooLong. That’s why we’re urging the Government to change this situation now.

But we can’t do this alone. We need everyone to get behind our campaign so that as a nation we stand together in solidarity to help put an end to this injustice and build a future where no one in the UK ever goes hungry.

This could happen to any of us

Do we really want food banks to become the norm in our country? We don’t think so. We’re a country that prides itself on making sure proper support is in place for each of us whenever help is needed, whether that’s through our health service or benefits system. Illness, disability or the loss of a job could happen at any time, and we owe it to each other to make sure sufficient support is in place at times when it’s unavoidably needed.

Enough is enough.

Our food bank volunteers are working tirelessly day-in and day-out. But we were never meant to be such a large operation, supporting so many people where the Government has failed to do so. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there is no excuse for this to carry on. That’s why we’ll continue to campaign and urge the Government to do all it takes to end hunger in the UK once and for all.

We know it can be done.

Emma Revie is chief executive of the Trussell Trust