18,854 emergency food parcels provided to people facing hunger by Southend Foodbank in the past 12 months  

18,854 emergency food parcels provided to people facing hunger by Southend Foodbank in the past 12 months  

• Alarmingly more than 7,000 of the parcels were provided for children in the last year
• The Foodbank has had to spend £145,000 on topping up food donations
• This announcement comes 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 should be a 'wake-up call’ for the UK government to strengthen the social security system and re-think cuts to welfare that risk forcing more people to food banks

Nearly 19,000 emergency food parcels were provided to people facing hardship between April 2024 and March 2025, with 7,263 of these provided for children, according to new figures Southend Foodbank released today.

Southend Foodbank has seen a slight decrease of 8% in the number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to last year. Despite this slight dip, the area the Foodbank covers across Southend City and Rochford has seen persistently high levels of need over the past five years, which is an overall increase of 188% on the figures from 5 years ago.

Cass Francis, Comms & Campaigns Coordinator at Southend Foodbank said

“We are pleased that the initiatives we’ve put in place in the last few years, such as Citizens Advice Advisors in most of our distribution sessions, have helped our guests maximise the support they are able to receive. While these new figures seem like a moment of good news, with a small decrease in the amount of food parcels we’ve given out, they are still indicative of the continuing high level of financial insecurity in Southend and Rochford that bring people to the doors of our food bank.

“5 years ago, the food parcels we gave out were almost entirely made up of donations from the public, but as the need for emergency food has increased we had to start buying provisions each month – and in the past year we have had to spend £145,072 just to make sure we can keep up with the need we see in our community.”

Southend Foodbank is part of the Trussell community of food banks, which has reported persistently high levels of need in the last 12 months with almost 3 million (2,885,086) emergency food parcels provided to people facing hardship across the UK between April 2024 and March 2025. More than a million of these parcels were provided for children.

Southend 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 Southend Foodbank continues to provide warm, compassionate, practical support and advice in the year ahead by donating food or funds at southend.foodbank.org.uk

Emma Revie, chief executive of Trussell, said: “Far too many children, families, disabled people, working people, and elderly people from across Southend 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 Southend.

“A whole generation has now grown up in Southend and Rochford where sustained high levels of food bank need feel 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.”