Food bank charity, The Trussell Trust is warning that they think more than 600,000 people will be in need of their support across their food bank network this winter. They've noticed the number of service users coming through their doors increasing year on year since the pandemic, and expect this year will be no different.
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00:00 "We are expecting over 600,000 people to need to use a food bank this winter and that's
00:08 about a parcel every eight seconds. So there's going to be a lot of people who need to come
00:15 to food banks because they simply don't have enough money to cover the essentials."
00:20 In their mission to stop hunger and poverty in the UK, charity The Trussell Trust helps
00:24 those in need by providing emergency food and support. Last year, almost 3 million emergency
00:30 food parcels were sent out by their food banks, the most they've ever distributed in a year.
00:35 In 2023, they're expecting that number to continue to grow as inflation and the cost
00:39 of bills remains high and so does the number of their service users.
00:43 "We thought that last winter was our busiest ever and we thought the year before the pandemic
00:50 was the biggest ever so we are definitely anticipating that this year will be higher
00:56 than previous years. So we are doing everything that we can to help prepare food banks in
01:03 our network to meet that level of need while also talking about how important it is that
01:08 we work towards a future where everyone has access to and can afford the essential items
01:12 that we all need."
01:14 Not only do those who come through their doors need help putting food on the table, the charity
01:18 also found around one in six don't have access to the internet, with around 1.7 million people
01:24 being disconnected across the UK.
01:26 "British people carry out at least 90 tasks online every day. We send 270 text messages,
01:35 we make 180 phone calls, we book 150 appointments online every month. So if you don't have access
01:43 to connectivity, you don't have access to any of that."
01:45 "Being able to provide people through our food banks who are participating in the campaign
01:52 connectivity at the point of coming to a food bank, to be able to then help people get online
01:57 for a universal credit application or access services and even just be able to get back
02:01 in touch with their loved ones as well, it's of massive value to everyone that comes through."
02:07 This year is the third the charity is partnering with Vodafone UK to help close the digital
02:11 exclusion gap and help shed light on the realities of being on the wrong side of the digital
02:16 divide.
02:17 "We teamed up actually with Emma Willis to produce a series on YouTube, taking away her
02:22 mobile phone and her access to the internet and asked her to complete some simple challenges
02:29 such as getting to a location she'd never been to before. So imagine if you are trying
02:35 to access a Trussell Trust food bank and you don't know where it is and you don't have
02:41 access to a map or GPS on your phone because you've run out of data, you don't know where
02:46 you are. Those kind of things are really tricky."
02:50 "From the experiences I've had today, it's abundantly clear that this society isn't built
02:57 for people who are disconnected and that is something that has to change."