National Food Bank Day – Why Supporting Your Local Food Bank Matters

The first Friday of September marks National Food Bank Day, a time to recognise the vital work food banks do in supporting families and individuals facing food insecurity. 

In today’s world, where the cost of living continues to rise and many households struggle to make ends meet, food banks are a lifeline for millions.

The Importance of Food Banks

Food banks collect, store, and distribute food to those in need, often working alongside community groups, schools, and churches. They not only provide immediate relief but also act as a safety net for people in crisis, whether due to job loss, illness, or unexpected financial hardship.

In the UK, organisations such as the Trussell Trust and independent food banks across the country have reported record demand for emergency food parcels. For many families, these donations are the difference between going hungry and having a meal on the table.

How You Can Help

Supporting food banks doesn’t always mean donating money—there are plenty of ways to get involved:

Donate food: Non-perishable items such as tinned vegetables, rice, pasta, long-life milk, and tea are always in demand.

Contribute toiletries and essentials: Items like soap, toothpaste, sanitary products, and nappies are often overlooked but much needed.

Give your time: Volunteers are the backbone of food banks, helping with sorting, packing, and distribution.

Raise awareness: Share information on social media or encourage friends, colleagues, and neighbours to contribute.

Fundraise: From bake sales to charity runs, community events can raise funds that go directly to supporting food banks.

Food, Dignity, and Community

National Food Bank Day isn’t just about filling cupboards—it’s about showing compassion, solidarity, and respect. Everyone deserves access to nutritious food, and food banks ensure dignity is maintained even during difficult times.

It’s also a day to reflect on the bigger picture. Food banks should not be a permanent solution to hunger, but while they exist, they represent the power of community in action.

Final Thoughts

As we mark National Food Bank Day, consider what small action you could take to support your local food bank. Whether it’s donating a few items on your next supermarket shop, volunteering a couple of hours a month, or simply spreading the word, every contribution makes a real difference.

Because when a community comes together to ensure no one goes hungry, everyone benefits.

How Your Food Business Can Partner with Local Charities to Help Feed Disadvantaged People

In an era of rising living costs and growing food insecurity, many individuals and families in our communities are struggling to put meals on the table. 

As a food business—whether you run a restaurant, café, catering company or bakery—you’re in a unique position to make a meaningful difference. 

Partnering with local charities to help feed disadvantaged people is not only socially responsible; it’s also good for community relations and your brand reputation.

Here’s how your business can start making an impact today.

1. Build Relationships with Local Charities

Start by identifying charities and community organisations in your area that focus on food provision. This could include food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, community fridges, and churches or mosques that run meal programmes. Reach out and have a conversation about their needs—some may need regular surplus food donations, while others might benefit from one-off events or cooked meals.

Examples in the UK include:

FareShare

The Trussell Trust

FoodCycle

The Felix Project (London)

Community fridges via Hubbub

2. Donate Surplus Food Responsibly

If your business regularly ends up with unused stock or prepared food that’s still safe to eat, consider setting up a structured donation programme. Work with charities that can collect your surplus or coordinate with a volunteer network. Be sure to follow all food safety guidelines and check if your business is covered by the UK’s Good Samaritan food donation protections.

Some platforms like Too Good To Go or OLIO also help businesses redistribute food that would otherwise go to waste.

3. Offer Skills or Services

Your team’s skills can be just as valuable as food donations. Consider volunteering your chefs for cookery workshops at community centres, or helping charities create nutritious, low-cost meal plans. You could host fundraising dinners or pop-up events, donating the profits to food charities.

4. Sponsor or Support Community Meals

Many charities host regular community meals for those in need. Partnering with them to sponsor a meal—or providing the venue, ingredients, or staff—can make a big difference. These events don’t just feed people; they create spaces for connection and dignity.

5. Run a “Pay It Forward” Scheme

Consider starting a “Pay It Forward” initiative where customers can purchase a meal or hot drink in advance for someone in need. Display this clearly in your premises or online, and coordinate with a local charity to redeem them.

6. Raise Awareness and Encourage Donations

Use your business's visibility to raise awareness about local hunger issues. Display collection bins for food or essentials, share charity appeals on social media, or add an optional donation to your checkout process (especially for online orders).

7. Build Long-Term Partnerships

Consistency is key. While one-off efforts are helpful, long-term partnerships with charities allow you to create sustainable impact. Establish regular donation schedules, co-branded campaigns, or annual charity events. This also gives your staff and customers a sense of purpose and involvement.

Food is one of the most powerful ways to care for others. As a food business, you’re in a position of influence and opportunity. Working with local charities not only helps address food poverty in your community—it shows your customers and your staff that you’re committed to doing good.

By sharing what you have—whether it’s ingredients, time, space, or skills—you can help bring dignity, warmth, and nourishment to those who need it most.

Near 40,000 emergency food parcels provided across Bristol and South Glos as need remains high

38,700 emergency food parcels provided to people facing hunger by Bristol and South Glos Foodbanks in the past 12 months.

Worryingly over 14,400 of the parcels were provided for children in the last year.

This come as new annual figures from Trussell show that 2,885,086 food parcels were given out across the UK.

Anti-poverty charity Trussell, says this must be a 'wake-up call’ for our UK government to strengthen the social security system and re-think cuts to welfare that risk forcing more people to rely on food banks.

Over 38,700 emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between April 2024 and March 2025, with 14,400 of these provided for children, according to new figures from North Bristol & South Glos Foodbank released today.

The three Trussell food banks operating across Bristol and South Gloucestershire have together seen a 4% slight decrease in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year. Despite this slight dip, the area has seen persistently high levels of food bank need over the last five years, and a 62% increase when compared with the same period in 2019 - 2020.

Ellen Wood, Manager of North Bristol & South Glos Foodbank, Told That's Food and Drink: “We've seen a slight dip in food parcels this year, which shows our collective efforts are making a difference. 

"But many people across Bristol and South Glos still face hunger. Behind these numbers are real people - parents who have to skip meals so their children can eat, elderly people in cold homes, and working families who can't stretch their wages far enough.

"We're actively developing access to advice and services that will help people move away from needing emergency food, but we're concerned that upcoming changes to disabled benefits will increase pressure on food banks and reverse our progress. We need both immediate community support through donations and long-term policy changes that ensure everyone has enough money for life's essentials.”

NBSG Foodbank is part of the Trussell community of food banks, which has reported persistently high levels of need in the last year with nearly 3 million (2,885,086) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship across the UK between April 2024 and March 2025. Over a million of these parcels were provided for children.

NBSG Foodbank believes everybody should have enough money in their pockets to put food on the table and is calling on the community to play their part to help end the need for emergency food in the UK. 

Until then, the public can help make sure NBSG Foodbank continues to provide warm, compassionate, practical support and advice in the year ahead by donating food or funds at nbsg.foodbank.org.uk.

Emma Revie, Trussell's CEO, added: “Far too many children, families, disabled people, working people, and elderly people from across Bristol and South Glos needed to access food banks for emergency food in the past year. This should be a wake-up call to government and a stark reminder of their responsibilities to the people of Bristol and South Glos.

“A whole generation has now grown up in Bristol and South Glos 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.”

Visit nbsg.foodbank.org.uk to find out how you can help today.

You can find out how many emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship in your local area on the Trussell website: nbsg.foodbank.org.uk/postcode

Got food and drink items to give away? How about a food bank?

From time-to-time manufactures, suppliers, exporters, wholesalers and PR companies find themselves with food and drink stocks that are surplus to requirements

Nobody is happy with throwing food out and it's distressing to see examples of this when (usually US-based) dumpsterdiver YouTube channels show that retailers, etc have thrown away perfectly good food, even though it's sometimes nowhere near the best before or use by date.

However! There is an alternative to throwing good food away, food can be donated to food banks and other charitable groups.

Here is a list of some groups who would be pleased to take surplus stocks of food to make sure they are used to help people who are going through hard times:-

https://www.givefood.org.uk

https://www.yourlocalpantry.co.uk/pantry-listings

https://foodcycle.org.uk

https://www.trusselltrust.org

https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/foodbanks

https://www.feastwithus.org.uk

https://www.bankuet.co.uk/find-a-foodbank

https://www.stgilestrust.org.uk

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/using-a-food-bank

https://feedingbritain.org

https://fareshare.org.uk

Incidentally, we at That's Food and Drink are involved with a couple of food banks local to us. You can Google "local food banks" to check out your area. Some churches run food pantry schemes. 

Tesco makes food bank donations a little easier for customers

Food banks and charities see demand rise during the summer months. And Tesco is helping its customers make donations to food banks by selling Food bank donation bags in 300 Tesco stores.

The bags are pre-filled with items that are most needed by families.

The donation bags, which customers can pick up as they enter the store, will contain the items most needed by foodbanks and charities, likes pasta, pulses and pasta sauce and will typically cost around £3.50.

The bags make it a quick and easy way for shoppers to give a helping hand to food banks and charities feeding people in their local communities this summer. 

Last year, the total amount of food donated by Tesco shoppers to the Trussell Trust and FareShare was the equivalent of 12.5 million meals.

The donation bags will be available in Tesco stores until Sunday September 3, alongside every Tesco store’s permanent collection point where customers can donate long life food items all year round. 

Over the summer, customers can also round up their bill to the nearest pound at the checkout to make it even easier to offer financial support to those who are in need. This will be available to 6th August and 28th August to 3rd September.

Tesco Head of Community Claire de Silva said: “We’re very proud of our partnerships with FareShare and the Trussell Trust and we are keen to continue to find ways to help them. With more people using food banks we wanted to make donating as easy as possible for customers who want to support their local community. The donation bags will be available throughout the summer holidays so it allows a real focus on families and children who need support.”

Polly Hoffman, Head of Retail at FareShare, said: “The need for FareShare food has been rising quickly as a result of the cost of living crisis, and will continue to do so throughout the summer holidays when more families rely on these vital local services to feed themselves and their loved ones.

“At a time when millions of people are going hungry across the UK, the donations we receive from generous Tesco customers is really vital for the charities and community groups we provide food to.  That’s why we’re thrilled Tesco is making it even easier for people to support FareShare by introducing donation bags in store this summer.”

Emma Revie, CEO at the Trussell Trust, added: “We're extremely grateful to Tesco for again providing innovative new ways for their customers to support our network of more than 1,300 food bank centres. Over the last year, food banks have faced record levels of need and, while donations have increased by 18%, our network distributed 37% more emergency food parcels than in 2021/2022. 

“The generosity of Tesco and its customers plays a vital role in ensuring that food banks can continue to support people who cannot afford the essentials, as we continue working towards our vision of ending the need for food banks.”

(EDITOR: Other supermarkets such as Morrisons also offer food bank bag donation points in their stores.)

Trussell Trust releases food bank figures

New annual figures from the Trussell Trust show nearly 3 million (2,986,203) food parcels were distributed, that's more than ever before and over a million of the parcels were provided for children.

The number of parcels provided between April 2022 – March 2023 is more than double the amount distributed by food banks in the same period five years previously.

The Trussell Trust has issued a call for a stronger social security system that ensures families can at least cover life’s essentials, such as food, heating, and clothing.

New figures released by the Trussell Trust reveal almost 3 million (2,986,203) emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between April 2022 and March 2023, with over a million of these parcels provided for children.

This is the most parcels food banks in the charity’s UK-wide network have ever distributed in a single year and represents a staggering 37% increase compared to last year.  

The annual statistics also show an increasing number of people are struggling to afford the essentials, over 760,000 people used a food bank in the Trussell Trust network for the first time. This is more than the population of Sheffield and a 38% increase in people who have needed support for the first time, compared to the same period last year.  

The levels of need were particularly acute in the winter, and December 2022 was the busiest month on record for the network, with a parcel being distributed by staff and volunteers across the country every eight seconds.   

 Brian Thomas, Chief Executive at South Tyneside Foodbank, said: “We are experiencing an unprecedented rise in the number of people coming to the food bank, particularly employed people who are no longer able to balance a low income against rising living costs. 

"We’re also seeing a really high number of families needing support as people struggle to afford the essentials. Food donation levels are not keeping up with the significant increase in need and this is putting us under a lot of strain, it’s a real pressure cooker situation for food banks.”  

Speaking about the rising need for emergency food, Emma Revie, Chief Executive at the Trussell Trust, pointed out: “These new statistics are extremely concerning and show 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 it's 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.  

“Food banks were created to provide short-term support to people in an emergency, they are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and over three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist.  

“The staff and volunteers in our network work tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available, but the current situation is not one they can solve alone. 

“For too long people have been going without because social security payments don't reflect life’s essential costs and people are being pushed deeper into hardship as a result. If we are to stop this continued growth and end the need for food banks then the UK government must ensure that the standard allowance of Universal Credit is always enough to cover essential costs.” 

John, 35, has had to use a food bank when he lost his home and his job and became homeless, said: “When I was homeless, food banks saved me. They provided me with food, shower gels and other necessities I couldn’t afford. But it also gave me somewhere to go for a chat or to see someone. The kindness I was shown there, has stuck with me.  

“I currently volunteer at my local food bank as a trustee, and I help run the food bank. I work three days a week.

“I wanted to pass on the kindness I was first shown when I needed a food bank. My experience has helped me to be better equipped to understand the tough situations some people are in when they need our food bank, and I can show empathy and understanding. But ultimately, food banks shouldn’t be needed in the first place, everyone should be able to afford to buy their own food and afford the essentials.” 

The Trussell Trust’s long-term goal to end the need for food banks is one that the general public agrees with. Polling by YouGov on behalf of the Trussell Trust suggests that the public are increasingly concerned with issues related to poverty and hunger in the UK.

The majority of the UK public (77%) thinks that food banks should not be needed in the UK, with a strong majority agreeing (93%) that everyone should be able to buy enough food for themselves and their family.  

To help ensure that everyone has the income they need to afford the essentials, the Trussell Trust is calling for the UK government to act now to strengthen our social security system.  

The charity 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. 

Research by the charities reveals the £85 weekly Universal Credit standard allowance is at least £35 less than the weekly cost of essential items for a single person, contributing to hundreds of thousands of people being forced to use food banks because they can’t make ends meet.  

 The Essentials Guarantee would be enshrined in law and set regularly, based on an independent recommendation, and would be the first time since the welfare state was created that social security rates were based on what people need, and how much those things actually cost.

The charities calculated that a list of essential items including water bills, gas and electric, travel expenses, food items such as bread, rice and vegetables, and hygiene and cleaning products like toothpaste and washing up liquid currently costs approximately £120 per week for a single person. 

https://www.trusselltrust.org