For the fifth consecutive year, award-winning Scottish housebuilder Cruden has spread festive goodwill by partnering with Trussell, an anti-poverty charity that operates a community of over 1,400 food banks across the UK.
Since 2020, Cruden has made an incredible contribution of over £66,000 and approximately 30 tonnes of food supplies to food banks in the Trussell community, providing vital relief to families and individuals facing hunger and hardship across the UK. These collective efforts have fostered a profound sense of community and care across Scotland during the festive season.
This year, Cruden has continued its notable support by collecting an additional £9,000 in donations and over 6 tonnes of essential supplies, including non-perishable food, toiletries, and festive treats. These provisions were distributed to food banks across Scotland, to support people most in need during the cost-of-living crisis.
These achievements have been made possible through the dedication of Cruden staff, contractors, and partners, who united across six developments and the Central Belt of Scotland to contribute high-priority items identified by local food banks.
Colin Kennedy, Construction Director at Cruden, said:“We’re immensely proud of the impact we’ve made over the past five years in supporting Trussell.
“This year’s contributions are more critical than ever, and we’re deeply grateful to everyone who participated. Together, we’re making a real difference in the lives of families who need it most during the festive season.”
Sophie Carre, Head of Public Engagement at Trussell said: “Thank you to Cruden for supporting Trussell.
“Between March and September this year food banks in Trussell’s UK-wide community distributed more than more than 1.4m emergency food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 69% over the same period five years ago. More than 500,000 of these parcels were distributed for children.
“Food bank teams are working tirelessly to help people unable to afford the essentials and thanks to the generosity of supporters like Cruden, they can continue to provide vital emergency support in their communities, while we work together to end the need for food banks in the UK. Thank you.”
Food banks in our community gave out just over 1,428,000 emergency food parcels across the UK between April and September this year, charity Trussell Trust reports today.
This includes 508,000 parcels provided for children facing hunger across the UK.
The majority of food parcels were distributed to families with children, with 63% of the total number of parcels going to households with children aged 0–16, the charity reports. More than277,000 people visited a food bank in the Trussell community for the first time between April and September.
The total number of parcels provided across the UK is 67,000 fewer when compared to the same period last year, representing a 4% decrease. Trussell says there are a number of possible reasons for this recent small dip, such as the gradual slowdown in the extortionate price hikes we experienced on food and bills in recent years, and an end to the Local Housing Allowance freeze in April, bringing support for private renters back in line with local rents.
However, Trussell says it’s difficult to say if there has been an actual drop in hunger and hardship. The need for emergency food is still persistently high, and the number of parcels provided is 69% greater than the same period in 2019.
In fact, some UK regions saw a marginal increase in the number of food parcels provided. East of England and London saw increases of 1% and 4% respectively in the numbers of parcels provided.
Trussell says while food banks are a last resort for people who’ve been left isolated, facing hunger, and without enough money to live on, many are at breaking point due to years of growing numbers of people forced through their doors.
Winter is often the busiest time for food banks and Trussell is calling on the public to continue to play their part and support their local food banks to meet this urgent need, by volunteering, donating, fundraising or campaigning to help end hunger in the UK.
Food banks offer hope, dignity and relief to people facing hardship. Many need vital funds to provide services beyond distributing emergency food, such as advice and support that unlocks money someone should be getting and services aimed at helping people out of financial hardship.
Trussell says the evidence is clear that hunger in the UK isn’t a food problem, it’s an income problem. People are being forced to turn to food banks because incomes from work, and social security payments, do not cover the cost of the essentials, such as food, bills, and toiletries.
That’s why Trussell has also joined forces with hundreds of communities, food banks and charities including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in calling on the UK government to take urgent action now.
Today, food banks across the UK have joined together to rally for change and are giving out a newspaper, the Hardship Times, in Westminster. The newspaper is made up of messages of hardship and hope, collected from hundreds of food banks across the UK.
The charity says there is hope and it knows we can end hunger, if positive action is taken. The UK government must act swiftly to follow up announcements in the recent Budget, with a clear plan to meet its manifesto commitment to end the need for emergency food and ensure that we do not see even more people facing hunger and hardship on its watch.
This plan should include investment in our social security system, at the very least introducing a protected minimum floor in Universal Credit to limit the amount of reductions that could be applied to a household’s Universal Credit. This would ensure, for the first time, that there would be a real safety net below which no one could fall.
The charity says this would be a low cost but concrete step towards ensuring our social security system protects people from facing hunger and hardship.
Emma Revie, Chief Executive of Trussell, said: “The sheer numbers of people still facing hunger and hardship across the UK is heartbreaking. 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 live on.
“Our food banks are a lifeline, offering a warm welcome and space to be heard. They need everyone to play their part to move us towards ending the need for emergency food in the UK.
“You can help make sure food banks can continue to provide warm, compassionate, practical support and advice this winter by volunteering, donating, fundraising or campaigning to help end hunger in the UK.
“Meanwhile, alongside our community of food banks campaigning today in Westminster, we will continue to call for change.
“The UK Government was elected with a manifesto pledge to end the need for emergency food and the time to act is now. There have been promising steps, but we need a clearer plan with more decisive action to invest in our social security system, if we are to end hunger once and for all.”
Number of emergency food parcels distributed by food banks in the Trussell community: 1 April – 30 September 2019, 2023, and 2024:
New figures from the Trussell Trust show more emergency food parcels were given out during the April to September period than ever before
Over the last six months, 320,000 people have been forced to turn to food bank in the Trussell Trust network for first time
New research finds one in five people referred to food bank in the Trussell Trust network are in working households
The charity is urging the UK government to take immediate action as food banks face ‘breaking point’
Volunteers set for busiest winter yet as levels of need outstrip donations
New figures released today by the Trussell Trust reveal that 1.3m emergency food parcels were provided to people between April and September this year by food banks in the charity’s UK network and almost half a million of these went to children.
That’s a third more than were provided during the same period in 2021 and an increase of more than 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The Trussell Trust, which supports more than 1,300 food bank centres, says the cost of living emergency has created a ‘tsunami of need’, as people struggle to survive amidst the soaring costs of living.
With need outstripping donations for the first time in its history, the charity has been forced to launch an emergency appeal to ensure that food banks can meet the alarming level of need in their communities.
In the first half of this financial year alone, the Trussell Trust’s food bank network provided more parcels than in a full 12-month period five years ago, when 1.2 million emergency food parcels were distributed.
Over the last six months, 320,000 people have been forced to turn to a food bank in the Trussell Trust network for the first time which represents a 40% increase compared to 2021.
The charity warns that food banks are at ‘breaking point’, both physically and mentally, and are set to face the hardest winter yet as they expect to provide more than 7,000 emergency food parcels a day on average in the next six months.
Josie Barlow, food bank manager at Bradford Foodbank said: “Someone who came to the food bank recently told me that ‘buying milk is a luxury now’. So many people are struggling with bills and food prices. We are fortunate to be able to help people and we work hard to support them in both the short and long term, but we are also facing challenges.
“We have seen a huge increase in people coming to the food bank in the last two months compared to the same period last year and our stock levels are very low for this time of the year.”
Furthermore, new research to be released by the charity next year, finds that one in five people referred to a food bank in the Trussell Trust network are in working households.
The charity is supporting more and more people who are working but still can’t afford the essentials which is leading to food banks having to change their opening times to make sure working people can pick up their parcels outside of work hours.
The Trussell Trust is calling on the UK government to act decisively in next week’s Budget.
Over the last few years, the charity’s network of food banks has seen how the right support, at the right time, can help people out of hardship.
Most recently, the government’s targeted support to people on the lowest incomes via July’s Cost of Living Payment correlated with a small dip in need at food banks.
However, the charity warns that short-term interventions are neither sustainable for government nor dignified for people who are struggling, and they don’t solve the longer-term problem of people having to rely on food banks.
Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “These new statistics show that, even in summer months, people are struggling to afford the essentials and we are expecting that this winter will be the hardest yet for food banks and the people they support. This is not right.
“We know that with the right support and a stable and sufficient income, people don’t need to turn to food banks for support.
“Over the last few years, the government has acted to protect people who are struggling, and this action has had made a difference. They must now act again: with swift support now to help people through the winter, and with vision for the longer-term to ensure that social security is always enough to weather challenging times.
“We are calling for the Prime Minister to act decisively in next week’s budget.
“We urge the UK government to realise their commitment of supporting people on the lowest income with a broad package of support. As well as ensuring that benefits rise with inflation as soon as possible, this must go further to close the gap between price rises and incomes over the winter.”
If you are in a position to donate, you can support the Trussell Trust’s Emergency Appeal Fund now by donating vital funds to help the charity support food banks this winter.
