Northern Ireland food banks linked to a well known charity have seen a 194% increase in the number of parcels handed out.
The figure emerged as the Trussell Trust warned that demand is “outstripping donations” for the first time in their history. Statistics compiled by the charity show that across their 45 food bank centres in Northern Ireland they have seen the number of emergency parcels distributed increase from 17,918 in April-September 2019 to 31,687 in the same period in 2022.
The Trust has described the surge in demand as a “tsunami of need”, but believes the situation will get worse as we head further into winter. They added that they are also seeing an increase in visits from people in working households.
