Falkirk residents face hard winter as trust warns foodbanks are at 'breaking point'

The charity, which supports 121 food bank facilities in Scotland, warns the cost of living emergency has created a “tsunami of need” and foodbanks are set to face the hardest year yet, with the trust expecting to provide more than 7000 emergency food parcels a day on average across the UK in the next six months.

Statistics from the Trussell Trust show food banks in Scotland experienced their busiest six months on record for April to September as they provide 116,000 emergency food parcels in six months, with 40,000 of those going to children.

The Falkirk area saw 4276 parcels delivered – 2942 for adults and 1334 for children – over the same period, which is the most parcels ever delivered in the area since records began back in 2017.

Jim Couper, of Falkirk Foodbank, said: “We’re not quite at breaking point, but our stocks have never been lower. We still have enough food to make sure people have provisions through Christmas, although we have had to cut down the amount of food in the boxes to ensure we meet the need.

"Instead of seven days of food they now have six days of food. We had to cut it back to ensure we had enough stock for Christmas, when we hope to get more donations.

"January saw us send out 13 tons of food when the most we would send out before was between eight and 10 tons. It really depleted our stocks. In August we helped to feed almost 1000 people.

"We had a good harvest period with churches, schools and businesses donating.”

Foodbank volunteers will be collecting food at the Falkirk area’s big Tesco stores on the first three days of December to help them build up their stocks again.

From 2017 to 2022, Falkirk has seen 18,228 food parcels delivered to those who need them – 12,199 for adults and 6029 for children. The year 2018 saw the second highest number of parcels delivered in Falkirk with 3745 – 2532 for adults and 1213 for children.

In light of these record figures, the Trussell Trust is calling on the Scottish Government to take immediate action and urgently publish its overdue national plan to end the need for food banks.

Polly Jones, head of Trussell Trust in Scotland, said: “Everyone in Scotland should be able to afford the essentials, to buy their own food and heat their homes. This has got harder in the last six months, with 27,000 people needing a food parcel for the first time and a huge increase in children needing our support. This is not right.

“Building on its track record of increasing the Scottish Child Payment from £10 a week to £25, and the extension to all children under 16, we urge the Scottish Government to take further action to deliver immediate and direct cash support to households, as well as urgently publishing the overdue national plan to end the need for food banks.”

Visit the website to donate or find more information.