Food poverty at a record high in Hackney
The number of local people facing hunger is at a record high, according to the latest figures released by Hackney Foodbank.
The charity, which provides emergency food and caseworker support to people experiencing extreme hardship, has seen a 22% increase in demand over the last 12 months. In 2024/25 they distributed the equivalent of 282,800 meals – that’s 196 tonnes of food (compared to 231,000 meals and 159 tonnes in 2023/24).
This comes as new annual figures from Trussell reveal food banks across their network distributed an emergency food parcel every 11 seconds. 2,885,086 food parcels were given out across the UK in the past year.
Pat Fitzsimons, CEO of Hackney Foodbank, said: “In the 13-year history of our charity, things have never been as tough as they are now. Hunger in Hackney is at a 13-year high. We’ve had to recruit extra volunteers to cope with the demand, we launched a mobile food bank to help more people, and our fundraising team is working flat out to ensure no one goes hungry.
“Our caseworkers are working tirelessly to help people on to better situations, to ensure they’re accessing all the benefits they’re entitled to and to help with grants for life’s essentials. But we need the national systems to change – Universal Credit, the social security net that should be catching people in crisis, isn’t enough to cover the basics and it’s falling to charities like ours to pick up the pieces.
“Until things change, we need the community to continue to support us to ensure no one goes hungry– monetary donations are often eligible for Gift Aid, which means your money goes further and they enable us to buy food wholesale at the best prices.”
Hackney Foodbank will be joining Trussell for a lobby day in Westminster next month. The charity has more than 200 volunteers who, in the past year, have collectively devoted 11,878 hours (a 56% increase on the previous year).
Hackney Foodbank has also teamed up with Growing Communities and the Felix Project so, in addition to receiving the standard parcel of non-perishable food, visitors receive a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables. In 2024/25 that amounted to 33,300 tonnes of fresh food.
Pat added: “The statistics give some idea of the scale of need locally but behind those figures are heartbreaking stories; pensioners who can’t afford to heat their homes, parents missing meals so their children can eat, nurses forced to turn to food banks for help because local rents are so high and benefits so low. Poverty at this level is isolating, it can fuel mental illness like anxiety and depression and that in turn limits people’s ability to work and earn.”
Over 70% of the 7,884 visitors to Hackney Foodbank in the last year, only came between one and three times but the charity is reeling from a rising number of people who need more regular help. It’s feared changes to eligibility criteria for disability benefits and for the Winter Fuel Allowance will create more pressures.
Emma Revie, Chief Executive of Trussell, said: “A whole generation has now grown up in Hackney where sustained high levels of food bank need feels like the norm. The community has teachers, doctors, and healthcare professionals now routinely referring people to food banks as part of their day-to-day jobs, showing how emergency food has sadly become a fixture. If you can, please play your part and help change this.”
To support the foodbank, visit: www.hackney.foodbank.org.uk/donate