Food bank usage across London has increased more than fivefold in the last decade, while the number of food bank locations has failed to keep pace, according to new data.
The distribution of food parcels at Trussell Trust food banks during the 2024/25 period was the highest on record, surpassing even COVID-19 levels.
Food banks distributed over 450,000 food parcels this year, a 421% increase on the 86,000 distributed in 2017-18.
The number of Trussell Trust food banks has not matched the increase, with 152 locations across London in 2025, only 24 more than in 2017.
All data is only indicative of Trussell Trust food banks
Adrienne McPherson, London area manager for Trussell Trust, said: “Many food banks are at breaking point, with need at incredibly high levels in every community.
“More and more people are feeling the impact of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and can’t afford the essentials.
“Winter is the toughest time of the year for food banks. The colder months make heating essential, and no one should have to choose between heating and eating.”
Dr Megan Blake, senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield, said: “The number of people struggling to access food in this country, skipping meals, going without food, and trading down on quality, is considerably greater than what the Trussell Trust captures.
“Food banks are for those at the sharpest end of crisis; there are a lot more people who are not able to go to the food bank to get support when they probably need it.”
McPherson spoke about elderly people starving for several days, reduced to eating nothing but crackers, and a single father who went four days without food to afford school shoes for the new school year.
Although the two-child benefit cap was removed in Rachel Reeves’ budget announcement, removing a point of hardship for many, the new £26bn of tax will see millions of ordinary people paying more tax, increasing the burden for many struggling to make ends meet.
According to a Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson: “Food bank use is a blight on the country, and although it went down last year, we are determined to do more.
“To help with everyday costs, we’ve increased the National Minimum Wage, meaning an extra £1,500 a year for full-time workers, as well as taking £150 off energy bills from April and recommitting to the Triple Lock.
“Thanks to our decision to scrap the two-child limit and introduce a wider package of measures for families, we will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament.”
The highest numbers of food parcels are distributed in some of the city’s wealthiest boroughs.
Camden and Hackney are among the top 10 wealthiest boroughs, yet they are also among the top five boroughs where the largest numbers of food parcels were distributed.
McPherson said: “Hidden poverty in areas that appear affluent is a real issue because people sometimes forget the poverty exists, but food bank use isn’t restricted to certain areas.”
Camden is the seventh wealthiest London borough, with a £48,000 median annual income, yet 70,300 food parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from just four Trussell locations.
This is almost double that of second-place Ealing, which distributed 38,000 food parcels in the same period at seven separate locations.
Hackney is London’s fifth-wealthiest borough, with a £49,000 median annual income, yet 31,200 parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from 22 Trussell locations.
Camden also ranks highest in per capita terms, with 324 parcels per 1000 residents; however, the rest of the top five boroughs for food parcel distribution shift when looking at the figure per 1,000 residents.
People in working households made up 30% of Trussell Trust food bank users in 2024, an increase from 24% in 2022, according to charity data.
Kusner said: “People are struggling in these affluent boroughs just as much as anywhere else, with dramatic increases in food and energy prices.
“Working people are struggling much more than they were.
“The end user for a food bank has changed; you can have nurses, midwives and other working professionals who can’t support their families with their wages.”
Mark Farmer, head of operations at Royal College of Nursing (RCN) London, said: “Low pay, combined with soaring transport and housing costs, is pushing more and more nursing staff to the brink, and in extreme cases, forcing them to turn to food banks.
“For highly skilled, degree-educated professionals who are essential to keeping our health and care services running, this is utterly unacceptable.
“We need urgent, fundamental pay reform so that stories of nursing staff relying on food banks become a thing of the past.”
As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, three-quarters of RCN London members reported being financially worse off compared to 12 months ago, according to a January 2024 RCN survey.
Furthermore more than half said that they are likely to leave nursing altogether within the next five years.
The Trussell Trust’s food parcel distribution over the last decade in the capital has outstripped the figures for the rest of the UK, with London making up 15% of the UK total in 2024/25.
Distribution across the UK has increased by 113% since 2017, from 1.3 million in 2017 to 2.9 million in 2025.
Factors driving this significant spike include the ever-rising cost of living, rent increases, utility bill increases and insecure working conditions, such as zero-hour contracts.
McPherson also said that due to the rising cost of food, £10 worth of food someone may have donated in 2020 doesn’t go as far now in 2025.
In addition, Anna Kusner, Manager of Castlehaven Food Bank in Camden, said: “People don’t have the money they had before to support food banks.
“Even people I work with at the centre are struggling now. Electricity bills, gas, and food costs are just astronomical.”
However, the Trussell Trust identifies the biggest driver as the “inadequate state of social security” and calls for the introduction of an Essentials Guarantee, a policy change that would ensure Universal Credit covers life’s essentials such as food and bills, and could never be pulled below that level.
According to Trussell Trust research: “A single person needs at least £120 a week to cover essential costs, while a couple needs at least £200.
“If the Essentials Guarantee was adopted, it would lift around 1.8 million people out of poverty altogether, around 1.3 million of whom live in a household containing children.”
More than a third of the parcels distributed in London during the 2024/25 period were to children, according to Trussell Trust data.
Disabled people and households make up a disproportionate percentage of food bank users, with three-quarters of Trussell Trust food bank users being disabled, while around 25% of UK residents are disabled.
Pilar Sanchez, 61, was a live-in support worker for three people with learning disabilities.
However, she was left unable to work after developing hypothyroidism in 2015, an autoimmune condition which attacks the thyroid and leads to fatigue and depression.
As her accommodation was tied to her employment, she was expelled from her accommodation and made homeless for 18 months, turning to food banks to survive.
She said: “It was a complete reversal. I went from being the one who provided support to the one needing it.
“It was a very precarious and dangerous situation, but I am so grateful to all the staff at the food banks – they have been wonderful.”
Sanchez has been a food bank user for almost ten years and has called for a government initiative to help people with long-term health conditions get into the workplace.
She said: “I can work for organisations where there is cover if I’m ill or where I don’t have to work 35-40 hours a week.
“I want to contribute to society, and I could, but at the moment it doesn’t feel like an option.”
Nelly Gonzales Canete, 51, a food bank user suffering from Ulcerative Colitis, an Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and diabetes, lost her job after her company closed down, the same year she was going through a divorce, and was forced to turn to Universal Credit to provide for her child.
She said: “When I first started using food banks, it was utterly degrading.
“I have to keep fighting, so I do what I have to.
“Everyone is entitled to have proper, healthy food, and I think there should be a government programme to support those on benefits with a serious health condition.”
London’s food banks desperately need additional donations, particularly in the run-up to winter, their busiest time of year.
They urge potential donors to contribute long-life items such as tinned meats, vegetables, and cereals, while discouraging the donation of fresh and frozen items, as these will spoil long before they can be used in a meal for someone in need.
Kusner at Castlehaven food bank also called for additional donations, as well as volunteers to help run the food bank operations.
For more detailed information on food donations, many food banks use the Bank The Food app https://www.bankthefood.com to update their local community on the food they need most every week.
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