Over half of London working parents use food banks, study finds: ‘Is this the country we live in?’

More than half of London’s working families have turned to a food bank to help them put food on the table, shocking new research has found.

The findings – revealed by food redistribution charity The Felix Project – suggest that a staggering 720,000 working parents (56%) have resorted to food support services in the capital.

One-in-five have done so for the first time this year, the poll of 2,001 working parents shows. Meanwhile, some 13% of respondents said they were using a service at least once a week, equating to more than 169,000 families needing weekly food support.

Anne* – who first visited Slade Green food bank in December – is among this grim tally.

The single mum works “nonstop” to keep the lights on. But providing for her seven-month-old baby is still a challenge.

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“I work five days in a veterinary surgery, and two days in student experience at a university, I leave my baby with a friend,” she told the Big Issue. “Other people with more children, I don’t know how they cope.”

“It is a struggle. Of course, I worry about my baby when I just want the best.”

Relying on a food bank felt “horrible” at first – but she was made to feel “very welcome” at the Slade Green facility, which is part-supplied by The Felix Project.

“They are wonderful. I wanted to volunteer myself, but I am working too much at the moment. Maybe if things get better,” she said.

In-work poverty is an increasing problem, said Melanie Hudson, food bank manager at Slade Green and community coordinator at the Howbury Friends charity. Yet stigma around using a food supply service persists.

“We chose to be here because it’s kind of like hidden away. People do feel embarrassed,” she said. “We have people that are in tears because they don’t want to use a food bank, or they’ll say ‘I’ve never been to a food bank before.’ We’re like, don’t worry. Don’t be embarrassed – we’re all in the same boat. And food is really important.”

The Slade Green food bank feeds around 250 people a day, four days a week, and runs an additional surplus bank on a Friday.

Dean has been coming here for six weeks. He works as a carer for people coming out of hospital – but a back injury six weeks ago has forced him to take sick leave.

“I’d slipped over and cracked a rib,” he explained. “I’m on such a low basic salary, you rely on overtime to build your money up. I’m not really doing that while I’m out sick, but your bills don’t go down, your mortgage, your utility bills and all that still have to be covered. So it’s been a struggle.”

Dean initially felt “ashamed” to come to the food bank. But “It’s surprising how many people are in the same or a similar situation.”

“Speaking to other people in the queue…. I think is this the country we live in today? It shouldn’t be like this, you know, it’s 2024.”

The Felix Project’s new survey reveals just how many families are struggling to put food on the table. Some 14% of working parents have just under £20 a week for food, after bills – less than £3 a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Felix Project rescued enough food to hand out the equivalent of 35 million meals last year – but it “simply isn’t enough” to meet demand, said Rachel Ledwith, the organisation’s head of community.

“That 56% figure is really shocking. But we provide food to about 1000 community organisations a week, and pretty much all of them are telling us that they are seeing demand increase substantially,” she said.

“And it’s not really the demand that you would expect to see. These are working families. These are people that are going out, holding down jobs, trying to do the best that they can to put food on the table for themselves and their families – and they’re just not able to make ends meet anymore.”

Three years of a cost of living crisis have pushed people to “breaking point”, she added: “They are literally at the point that there is nothing left to give.”

In light of this crisis, The Felix Project have launched the Empty Plate Emergency Appeal, calling on Londoners to donate £20, a sum that can provide 50 meals.

“In an ideal world, people would have enough money in their pockets to buy food and all the other items that they need. But while we’re not in that ideal world, then, there is surplus food that’s going to waste, and there are people in need,” Ledwith said. “Let’s join the dots.”

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