Charity handing out more emergency food parcels

More emergency food parcels were handed out to people in Northumberland over six months, new figures from a leading charity show.

The Trussell Trust says it gave out 761 emergency food parcels – each containing three or seven days' worth of supplies – in the area between April and September.

This was up on the 509 during the same period last year, and its contribution is only part of a support network being offered by other charities and independent food banks.

The Trust says it handed out 43,141 parcels in the North East and 935,749 nationally over the six months – and warned the need for food banks will rise over the winter.

Around 5,100 emergency food parcels were provided nationally every day and the charity says it expects this to rise to more than 7,000 a day in December.

Emma Revie, chief executive, said: “Everyone in the UK should be able to afford the essentials – buying their own food and heating their homes.

“Yet food banks in our network continue to see more and more people facing destitution with an increase in food parcels going to children. This is not right.”

She added: “The answer must be for us to have the stability of a strong enough social security system to protect any one of us when we need it."

A Government spokesman said: “We are committed to supporting people on low incomes and the changes we have made to Universal Credit will see nearly two million of the lowest paid better off by around £1,000 a year.”