The charity warns that too many people are being “overlooked and left behind,” with growing numbers struggling to afford basic essentials.
Trussell, the UK’s largest food bank network, has called for stronger and more sustained government intervention after revealing it distributed more than 2.6 million emergency food parcels across the UK in 2025. Of these, over 900,000 went to children.
While the latest figures show a 12 percent decrease compared with 2024, attributed largely to easing inflation and fewer job losses, the longer-term trend remains deeply concerning. Food parcel distribution is still 45 percent higher than at the start of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
The charity warns that too many people are being “overlooked and left behind,” with growing numbers struggling to afford basic essentials, and is urging the government to implement lasting reforms.
Central to its recommendations is a call to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance and permanently link housing support to real rental costs. The charity is also advocating for the introduction of an ‘Essential Guarantee,’ which would ensure that the basic rate of Universal Credit always covers the cost of life’s essentials and cannot fall below that threshold.
In addition, the organisation proposes establishing an independent body to advise on minimum Universal Credit levels, drawing on expert analysis and the lived experiences of people on low incomes.
Helen Barnard, the Trust’s director of policy and research, said the figures show that too many people are still “being pushed to the brink.” She spoke of the need for “meaningful and lasting action” to ensure everyone can meet their basic needs without relying on emergency food aid.
The government says it is determined to do more and that food bank use is “a blight on the country.”
A spokesperson said: “To help to support families with the cost of living, we have increased the National Living Wage, will take £150 off average energy bills, and are launching our £1bn multi-year Crisis and Resilience Fund to help prevent households falling into crisis in the first place.
“In addition to this, thanks to our decision to scrap the two-child limit and measures in our wider Child Poverty Strategy, we will lift 550,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament – the largest reduction in child poverty since records began.”
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