A Trussell Trust foodbank operating in Derry has said more people are now availing of its services for the first time, due to "a low income crisis".
Karen Mullan, Project Manager at Foyle Foodbank, was speaking as landmark new research found that one in six people face hunger across Northern Ireland, with women, disabled people, carers and parents, among the groups disproportionately at risk.
Hunger in Northern Ireland, published this week by the Trussell Trust, reveals that, in mid-2022, 16% of the population here faced hunger in the last year because they didn’t have enough money.
Read more: More than 95 children a day received an emergency food parcel last year
The Trussell Trust’s food banks provided almost 82,000 food parcels in the last year, a record number, which is worryingly more than double the amount provided five years ago.
Of these, around 11,000 were supported through Foyle Foodbank.
Karen said: "We're supporting around 100 people a week and that's on a consistent level. In 2019, we supported nearly 4,000 people and last year, that rose nearly three times to 11,000.
"We're seeing more people using our food bank for the first time and more of those who are working or on maternity or sick leave, which ties in with the constant increase in people's outgoings but not their incomes.
"We're also experiencing an increase of people referred to us who have experienced one or more adverse life experiences in the past year (including sickness, bereavement, housing insecurity, relationship breakdown).
"We would be very concerned at the high level of numbers coming through our door who have experienced domestic violence.
"In the last week, we've had people saying how worried they are about the increase in their mortgage repayments and what that's going to mean for them."
Karen added: "For us, this isn't a cost of living crisis, it's certainly a low income crisis. No-one should have to come to a food bank and referrals should be the last resort, not the first.
"We now look at the reasons why someone is attending the food bank and try to address the cause with our support services such as financial inclusion, longer term support through our community supermarket, counselling and advocacy.
"We also now make referrals to other organisations such as benefits advice, specialist diet, addiction, housing and many more. Coming to the food bank is really the end when you're in a real crisis and reaching out for help.
"The reasons are multifaceted and what we've heard from people is that it can just start off with one thing and then spiral.
"For us, it's about helping people back on their feet. They don't want a hand out, they want a hand up and hope that they never see us again - in a good way.
"As one local person told us at a recent workshop as part of this new research, 'if it wasn't for the food bank, most of us wouldn't be where we are now and that's not how it should be'."
The report says this consistent upward trajectory exposes that it is weaknesses in the social security system that are driving food bank need, rather than just the Covid pandemic or cost of living crisis.
The research also finds this is just the tip of the iceberg as around 7% of the population of Northern Ireland was supported by charitable food support, including food banks, yet most people facing hunger (75%) had not yet accessed any form of charitable food support.
The landmark research reveals certain groups of people are more likely to face hunger than others. These groups include disabled people, families with children (especially single parents), carers, single adults living alone and people who’ve had adverse life experiences, such as bereavement or domestic abuse.
The main driver of hunger and food bank need in Northern Ireland is low income, says the research.
Overwhelmingly, this is caused by problems in the design and delivery of the social security system, compounded by too many jobs being inaccessible, insecure and not paying enough to cover essential costs.
The charity says many people would like to work but some face difficulty accessing jobs, including disabled people and carers, and parents who can’t find affordable childcare.
The majority (78%) of people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network in Northern Ireland are in receipt of means-tested benefits, but this did not provide enough to cover the cost of essentials.
The study also finds paid work does not always protect people from having to use food banks. One in five people across the UK forced to turn to food banks in the Trussell Trust network are in a working household.
Researchers found the overwhelming majority of people at food banks have been forced to seek help as a last resort having exhausted all other avenues.
They are likely to have accumulated multiple forms of debt, run down whatever limited savings they may have had, and exhausted all options from family and friends.
The Trussell Trust is calling on the UK government to create an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ to ensure Universal Credit payments never fall below the amount needed to cover life’s essentials.
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