More than half of London’s working families have been forced to turn to a food bank due to the rising cost of living, a survey by The Felix Project has found.
It has been revealed as many as 728,644 working parents across the past 12 months resorted to using food banks in the capital - equivalent to some 56 percent of families.
The staggering figure comprises 20 per cent who said they accessed food support services for the first time this year.
Data for the survey assessed how 2,001 working parents were coping.
Food redistribution charity The Felix Project has raised concern about families experiencing difficulty in covering the cost of three meals a day, saying it has been met with a greater demand for help this year.
It comes as one in seven parents admitted struggling to afford to feed their family on a daily basis, with one in four regularly struggling to do so.
Meanwhile, 14 per cent said they have just £20 a week to spend on food after paying their bills - up from 11 per cent in 2023.
Head of Community at The Felix Project Rachel Ledwith said: “These results clearly show that things are not getting better for families across London. It is appalling that more and more parents can only put food on their table because of a food bank and so many are being forced to skip meals, send their children to school hungry and cut back on other things to cover their essential food bills.
“The Felix Project rescues as much food as it can, this year we are on course to give out the equivalent of 35 million meals, but this is not enough to satisfy demand. That is why we are launching our The Empty Plate Emergency Appeal and asking people to show their support.”
The Empty Plate Emergency Appeal is calling on Londoners to donate £20 for 50 meals, those made up of “high quality surplus food, that cannot be sold and would otherwise go to waste”.
The redistribution charity frequently delivers meals to around 1,000 community organisations across London who help to feed people experiencing hunger.
One organisation in line to receive food is Newham Community Project which runs a food bank in Newham for three days per week and takes a delivery of around 1,375KG of food from The Felix Project weekly.
Yasmin Ismail who coordinates the service said: “We feed around 350 families every week and many of those are only able to put food on the table because of the help they get from us. It’s shocking really, these are everyday people, many are working but their income just does not meet their needs and so they are forced to turn to a food bank.”
To find out more about the appeal visit: www.thefelixproject.org
