A foodbank in the Ribble Valley have provided thousands of emergency food parcels to people facing hardship in the past 12 months, a rise of more than a third since the previous year.

New figures released this week by Ribble Valley Foodbank have revealed that 2,284 emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship across the Ribble Valley in the last year by Ribble Valley Foodbank – with 1,012 of these going to children.  

Ribble Valley Foodbank, with its Foodbanks in Clitheroe and Longridge, has seen a 34 per cent increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year.

This is the most parcels the Ribble Valley Foodbank has ever provided. 

Ruth Thompson, Foodbank Manager at the Ribble Valley Foodbank said: “People are facing a whole range of challenges, with many using the Foodbank for the first time.

“For the first time, the Foodbank is now needing to buy stock to keep up with the demand for food parcels.

“We are very grateful to the people of the Ribble Valley for their kindness and thoughtfulness with donations.”

The food bank are now currently seeking donations so they can continue to support the community.

Presently they are short of long-life UHT milk, tins of custard, tins of potatoes, tins of fruit, toilet rolls, laundry products, sponge puddings and toiletries for men and women.

Ribble Valley Foodbank said their aim is to end the need for foodbanks and until they achieve their aim, they would like to thank the many donators who regularly support those most in need.

Lancashire Telegraph: Trinity Methodist Church is one of the locations of the Ribble Valley FoodbankTrinity Methodist Church is one of the locations of the Ribble Valley Foodbank (Image: Google Maps)

Donations can be made in Clitheroe and Longridge at Booths, Tescos and Sainsburys and will be put to good use to make a difference.

A client said recently that the foodbank had given food for herself and her children, and the belief that she was not alone. Another said that he was ashamed to call the foodbank.

He went on to say that he had been made welcome and supported to seek the help he needed with a particular difficulty. The foodbank is more than food.

The Ribble Valley Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust’s network, which reports record levels of need in the last 12 months with almost three million (2,986,203) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023.

More than a million of these parcels were provided for children. 

Speaking about the rising need for emergency food, Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “These new statistics are extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people are being left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right.

“The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing low levels of income and a social security system that isn’t fit for purpose that are forcing more people to need food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.”   

The Ribble Valley Foodbank was set up 10 years ago and is part of the work of the Ribble Valley Gateway Trust.

It aims to provide short-term support to people in an emergency, but foodbanks are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with Trussell Trust that they should not need to exist.

To help ensure that everyone has the income they need to afford the essentials, the Trussell Trust has joined with Joseph Rowntree Foundation in urging the UK government to embed in law an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ that would make sure Universal Credit payments always, at a minimum, provide enough to the cover cost of essentials such as food, utilities and vital household goods.