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The Trussell Trust’s award-winning UK foodbank network provides emergency food and support to people in crisis in the UK.

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1 in 5 parents are struggling to feed their children in the UK today and over 13 million Britons live below the poverty line. Every day people go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. Foodbanks help stop people going hungry, people like Charlotte who shares her story for our ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 Appeal.

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The Trussell Trust partners with local communities and churches to launch foodbanks across the UK. Each foodbank gives a minimum of 3 days’ nutritionally balanced food to people who have been referred by professionals such as doctors, teachers and social workers. As well as giving food, foodbanks provide a listening ear and signpost people to other services that can help resolve the cause of the crisis. Many clients tell us that the care and emotional support they received was almost as good as the food. People often tell us that the foodbank saved their lives.

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Last year almost 350,000 people were helped by Trussell Trust foodbanks, including over 126,000 children. We’re opening three new foodbanks every week to help meet demand. As the economic crisis continues to bite and more people turn to foodbanks, we urgently need your help to stop people going hungry.

Over 90 per cent of food given out by foodbanks is donated by the public, including many schools, faith groups and businesses. If you’d like to donate food, you can find your nearest foodbank

Many people helped by foodbanks are families. Suzanne and her husband were skipping meals to feed their children when they were helped by the foodbank.

Suzanne said: ‘I don’t know what we’d have done without the foodbank. They saved our lives and gave us hope.’

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