IFAN Data
If you are referencing any of the data below please use www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/data as the source
March 2024
Chancellor’s decision to temporarily extend the Household Support Fund in today’s budget gives food banks a short-lived reprieve but falls far short of what is needed
98%
reported supporting people who had not asked for help before
Nearly Half
said, if demand increases, they would need to reduce the size of the parcels they provided or might not be able to help everyone who asked for support
77%
reported an increase in the number of people seeking regular support
93 organisations running 197 venues responded to IFAN’s February 2024 survey.
November 2023
Autumn Statement offers little hope or respite for independent food banks as IFAN's latest survey shows food aid teams are struggling to meet escalating demand this winter.
Nearly 80%
saw demand for their services increase
98%
said they were supporting household seeking help for the first time
73%
had seen a drop in the level of food donations
74 organisations running a range of venues including 173 independent food banks and some other charitable food aid venues responded to IFAN’s November 2023 survey.
August 2023
Independent food banks are reporting a bleak picture of more and more people facing financial hardship and in need of their help. Our August 2023 survey finds food bank managers deeply concerned about the growing number of people with nowhere else to turn and a calamitous winter to come.
84%
reported increased need comparing April to July 2023 with last summer
100%
of contributing organisations said they were supporting households seeking help for the first time including elderly and working people
Nearly half
of contributing organisations reported a rise in the number of parents and carers struggling to feed babies
96 organisations running 197 independent food banks and some other charitable food aid venues responded to IFAN’s August 2023 survey between the 1st and the 15th of August 2023. Questions related to April to July 2023 as compared to April to July 2022.
April 2023
As Number 10 Downing Street holds its Farm to Fork Summit, latest Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) survey of independent food banks finds that 89% saw increased need for their help from January to March 2023 and that local authorities are most likely to refer people struggling to afford food to independent food banks. Read the full press release below.
89%
saw increased need for their help from January to March 2023
Two-thirds
of contributing organisations said if demand increased, they would have to reduce the level of support they could provide
Most
of contributing organisations reported supporting people who needed their help for the first time
For April’s survey, 76 organisations running 120 independent food banks in 69
local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales contributed data to IFAN from the 6th to the 20th of April 2023.
February 2023
As food inflation hits 16.7%, independent food bank teams are overwhelmed by escalating demand. Read our February survey press release.
89%
of organisations saw demand increase comparing December 2021/January2022 with December2022/January2023
Over
80%
of organisations reported supporting a significant number of people needing help for the first time as well as people needing regular support
Half
of contributing organisations said if demand increased, they would have to reduce the level of support they could provide and turn people away
For February's survey, 85 organisations running 154 independent food banks in 81 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales contributed to IFAN. 67 organisations contributed figures from the 10th to the 16th Feburary 2023.
Over
91%
of organisations reported increased need for their services comparing November 2021 with November 2022
90%
of organisations reported helping both people who had not previously accessed support as well as people needing regular food aid
Sept-Nov
From September to November 2022, over two thirds of organisations had experienced supply issues
46%
of organisations were concerned about their capacity to support people if demand stayed the same or continued to increase
For December's survey, 67 organisations running 139 independent food banks in 69 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales contributed to IFAN. 67 organisations contributed figures from the 6th to the 15th December 2022.
94%
of organisations reported increased need for their services following the cut to Universal Credit in October 2021 while 92% of this group saw yet further increases from August to October 2022.
Over
90%
of organisations reported helping both people who had not previously accessed support as well as people needing regular food supplies.
75%
of organisations had been impacted by supply issues with 1 in 5 needing to reduce the size of the food parcels.
60%
of organisations said that if demand continues to increase, they will need to reduce the size of their food parcels or will not be able to provide support.
For November's survey, 73 organisations running 154 independent food banks in 70 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales contributed to IFAN from 4th to the 11th November 2022. 36 of the 73 organisations also contributed to IFAN's October survey.
91%
of organisations saw demand rise yet further since July 2022
82%
of organisations reported being impacted by supply issues since July 2022.
Nearly
1 in 4
reported needing to reduce the size of their food parcels
Half
of contributing organisations to the survey say they may not be able to support everyone who needs their help or may have to reduce the size of their food parcels to meet increasing demand.
For October's survey, 98 organisations running 188 independent food banks in 94 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales contributed to IFAN from 30th September to the 7th October 2022. 39 of the 98 organisations also contributed to IFAN's August survey.
Nearly
90%
of organisations saw demand rise yet further since April 2022.
80%
of organisations reported being impacted by supply issues since April 2022 with one in five needing to reduce the size of their food parcels.
72%
of organisations reported that food donation levels have dropped since April of this year while more than half had needed to dip into reserves to pay for supplies.
68%
of organisations say they may not be able to support everyone who needs their help or may have to reduce the size of their food parcels to meet increasing demand.
As reported by 84 organisations running 169 independent food banks in 71 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales in survey running from 15th to the 23rd August 2022.
93%
of organisations reported an increase in the need for their services since the start of 2022.
More than
80%
of organisations reported that they have struggled with food supply issues over the last four months.
78%
of these organisations saw a drop in food and/or financial donations and half of these organisations have needed to dip into their financial reserves to pay for food or vouchers.
95%
of organisations reporting increases say that the cost-of-living crisis is the reason behind this.
101 Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) organisations running 194 independent food banks operating in 94 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales took part in the survey that ran from 4.5.22 to 9.5.22
December 2021
Independent food banks reported that they had seen a significant increase in need following the cut to Universal Credit in October 2021. Food bank teams reported that food supply had been impacted with donation levels dropping.
Over
90%
of independent food banks reported an increase or a significant increase in need for emergency food parcels in the last six weeks.
Food banks reported that the reasons behind this were the cut to Universal Credit, the rising cost of food and energy as well as the end of the furlough scheme.
Nearly
Half
of independent food banks reported that if demand increased then they might not be able to meet the demand or would have to reduce the size of their usual food parcel.
Independent food banks also reported that food surplus supply was impacted and that food donation levels had dropped.
68 IFAN member organisations running 120 independent food banks across Scotland, England and Wales contributed to the survey. The survey ran from 3.12.21 to 10.12.21 and questions were asked about the organisations' services in relation to the previous six weeks.
December 2020 (22.12.20)
Independent food banks operating across the UK have continued to see unprecedented increases in need for emergency food parcels through November 2020. 83 independent food banks (of a total of at least 961 UK-wide) distributed a total of 354,613 emergency food parcels from February to November 2020 compared to 168,560 emergency food parcels from February to November 2019 - a rise of 110% rise. Read our full report here.
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Percentage change in the number of emergency food parcels distributed by 83 UK independent food banks 2019 and 2020
December 2020 (11.12.20)
Our latest figures collated from independent food banks operating across the UK demonstrate continuing unprecedented increases in need for emergency food parcels. 134 independent food banks distributed a total of 426,958 emergency food parcels between February and October 2020 compared to 226,605 emergency food parcels in the same period last year - a rise of 88%. Read our full report here.
Percentage change in the number of emergency food parcels distributed by 134 UK independent food banks in 2019 and 2020
September 2020
(Scotland only)
Scotland’s independent food banks reported at least doubling in need for emergency food parcels compared to last year’s April to July figures. At least 182,863 emergency food parcels were distributed by 70 independent food banks in Scotland between February and July 2020. This report looks at data from independent food banks in Scotland comparing February to July 2019 with February to July 2020. Read our full report here.
Number of 3-day emergency food parcels distributed by independent food banks in Scotland (Feb - July in 2019 and 2020)
July 2020
IFAN independent food banks reported a 177% increase in number of 3-day emergency food parcels distributed comparing May 2019 with May 2020. This UK-wide report looks at data collated from 100 organisations operating 191 independent food banks operating across England, Scotland and Wales and able to provide data for both February to May 2019 and February to May 2020. Comparing the months May 2019 and May 2020, independent food banks have seen a 177% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed. Data contributed by a further 34 organisations running 47 independent food parcel distribution venues were also analysed. Read our full report here.
No of emergency food parcels distributed by independent food banks in England, Scotland and Wales in Feb-May 2019/20
June 2020
IFAN independent food banks reported a 175% increase in number of 3-day emergency food parcels distributed comparing April 2019 with April 2020 analysing a different data set. This report looked at data collated from 112 organisations operating 213 independent food banks operating across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and able to provide figures for both February to April 2019 and February to April 2020. Comparing the months April 2019 and April 2020, independent food banks have seen a 175% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed. Read the full report.
No of emergency food parcels distributed by UK independent food banks Feb-April 2019 and 2020
IFAN first collated data from independent food banks in Scotland in the Autumn of 2018. You can find out more about IFAN's initial data collation in Scotland here. Since the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, IFAN has collated data from independent food banks operating across the UK. If your organisation would like to contribute data to our surveys but is not a member of IFAN please get in touch with Sabine Goodwin at sabine@foodaidnetwork.org.uk