Thousands Will Need Food Banks Over Next Year

Demand for food bank support is set to grow to more than 400,000 people over the next year in the South West according to research from anti-poverty charity Trussell.

Its findings, modelled by WPI Economics for Trussell, show that 410,000 people in the South West in 2026/27 will have so little to get by on that they are at risk of needing to use a food bank. This is an increase of 55,000 people since 2024/25.

Bills rising

As bills continue to rise, including a further rise in the energy cap, a survey conducted by Ipsos on Trussell’s behalf shows that unacceptable numbers of people are already living on a knife’s edge day-to-day.

Our CEO Zoe Nixon said: “It’s not right that anyone in the South West doesn’t have enough money to live on. Every week, our wonderful staff and volunteers provide a lifeline through emergency food parcels and practical support to everyone who needs it.”

The numbers in need

One in eight (12%) people in the South West said that their household had run out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more in the previous year, according to the new research. Certain groups across the UK, such as disabled people and families with children, were found to be more likely to go without.

The charity also cited one in 12 (7%) people in the South West have had to cut back on food in the previous three months to afford other essentials like their housing costs, transport to work, or their heating.

Across the UK, worrying numbers of parents are having to make impossible decisions with one in eight (12%) forced to turn to loans, credit, or informal support from friends or family to meet their children’s needs in the last six months.

One in twelve parents across the UK (8%) have skipped meals so their children could eat or have enough food.

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, Trussell is calling for urgent action to ensure people can at least afford the essentials.

Helen Barnard, Trussell’s director of policy and research, said: “People just a few streets over from you are sitting in the dark to save electricity, skipping meals so their kids can eat, feeling invisible and alone as they try to get by for weeks and weeks without any support.

“Every day, people pull together across communities to make a difference – donating and getting emergency food to neighbours and providing advice and support so that people don’t need to turn to a food bank in the future. But together we can and must go further, particularly as prices rise once more.

“If we don’t act, we risk blighting the futures of a whole generation of young people who are experiencing and witnessing hardship UK-wide as the norm. We need politicians to take the heartbreaking scale of hunger in the UK seriously. The Prime Minister must renew Labour’s manifesto promise to end the need for emergency food, start strong in his first Budget, and make this a measurable goal for his government’s ten-year plan to raise living standards.”

Here in Cornwall…

Our charity spent £114k in the last financial year on food.

Although we receive food donations from a variety of sources, the need far outweighs supply and that’s why we have to purchase more.

From 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, we provided 3,173 food parcels, which included support for 1,562 children.

Comparing this to the same winter period in the previous year, we saw almost a 25% increase in demand for food parcels.

As all charities, we wish our support wasn’t needed, but for as long as people need help to eat and to improve their situation, we intend to be here.

We need your donations to help those facing hardship and hunger.

Zoe added: “We’re really worried about this winter. We are doing everything we can to support people in our communities as the colder months close in.

“But the rising cost of food and energy will make it even harder for us to keep services running too.

“Keeping the lights on and spaces open costs money, which is why any support you can give, whether that’s donating food or funds, will make a real difference.”

Please go to Give Help | Newquay Foodbank to give what you can.

Find our food donation points here too: Donate food | Newquay Foodbank

If you need our help, please do not hesitate to get in touch: How to get help | Newquay Foodbank

NOTES

All figures on the number of people at risk of needing to use a food bank and projections are from WPI Economics:

1. Modelling by WPI Economics on behalf of Trussell. WPI Economics created a baseline projection of severe hardship from the year of the most recent data, 2024/25, until 2028/29. The baseline projection of severe hardship has been created using PolicyEngine, used to project changes in household incomes, costs and resources. Projections are based on OBR forecasts on average earnings growth, forecasts on social security payments, and on rent payments. The modelling takes into account policies such as the removal of the two-child limit and the uprating of Universal Credit.

All percentages on the experiences of hunger and hardship are from Ipsos:

2. On behalf of Trussell, Ipsos carried out an online survey using their UK KnowledgePanel (Ipsos’s in-house random probability online panel). Ipsos interviewed a sample of 5,614 UK adults (18+) this included 232 people in the South West. Fieldwork was undertaken 28th May – 29th July 2026 across three waves of fieldwork. The data have been weighted to be representative of the UK adult population.

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