Food banks across the East of England provided more than 295,000 emergency parcels last year, as Trussell warned that too many families are still being pushed into hunger despite wider signs that the cost-of-living crisis is easing.
New figures published by the charity show its network of food banks in the region handed out the equivalent of 810 parcels a day in 2025, or one every two minutes. That is 65 per cent higher than before the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
Trussell said the figures show many people continue to feel “overlooked and left behind”, with wages and social security still failing to cover the cost of essentials such as food, bills and toiletries.
Families and older people hardest hit
Families with children continued to bear the brunt of the crisis. In the East of England, they received 65 per cent of all emergency food parcels in 2025, despite making up only around 45 per cent of the population.
The charity also reported a sharp rise in hardship among older people, with the number of parcels provided to those aged 65 and over more than quadrupling between 2019 and 2025, rising by 313 per cent.
Across the UK, more than 2.6 million emergency food parcels were distributed in 2025.
That was down 12 per cent on the previous year, which Trussell said was partly due to easing inflation and fewer job losses, but the charity warned that the overall level of need remains “appalling”.
“People are still being pushed to the brink”
Helen Barnard, Director of Policy and Research at Trussell, said: “Today’s figures show that too many people across the East of England are still being pushed to the brink.
“Even as we take hope from people getting back on their feet, we cannot lose sight of the heartbreaking injustice that so many people are still trapped in severe hardship.
“This isn’t right. Too many people are being forced to skip meals so their children can eat, or survive on cups of tea because they don’t have any food left in the cupboards.
“The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have left deep scars. Severe hardship still weighs heavily on daily lives, leaving people feeling overlooked and left behind.”
Food banks “not a long-term solution”
Nikki Ranson and Armin Lange, co-directors of a food bank in the East of England, said frontline services were continuing to see high levels of need while donations struggled to keep pace.
“Every day we meet people facing hunger who are struggling to get by. We are here to provide support, advice and emergency food, but it shouldn’t have to be this way. Food banks are not a long-term solution,” they said.
They urged the Government to improve social security and housing support, and to encourage the public to continue donating food and funds where possible.
Trussell is calling on the UK Government to lift the freeze on Local Housing Allowance and introduce an independent process to advise on the minimum level of Universal Credit, as part of what it describes as an “Essentials Guarantee”.
