Charity handed out 1.6m foodbank parcels in one year – rise of 20 per cent

A leading food bank charity says the number of three-day supplies it’s given out in the last five years has “soared” by 73 per cent.

According to figures released by the Trussell Trust, in the last year 1.6 million emergency food bank parcels were handed out – that’s a 19% increase on the year before. Of those, more than half a million went to children.

Our Social Affairs Editor Jackie Long has been to meet some of the young people who understand food poverty first hand, and are now determined to do something to tackle it.