The Trussell Trust has reported food banks in its network across the South West provided almost 175,000 emergency food parcels to people facing hardship between April 2021 and March 2022.

Over 67,000 of these went to children. These figures mark a 7% increase compared to the same period in 2019/20 before the pandemic.

Before the outbreak of Covid-19, 163,000 emergency food parcels were distributed in total across the South West by food banks in the Trussell Trust network.

The Trussell Trust says food banks in its network across the UK experienced their busiest winter outside of 2020 at the height of the pandemic, providing 1.2 million parcels in the second half of the year alone.

This is more parcels than were provided for the whole year of 2016/16.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said: “People in the South West are telling us they’re skipping meals so they can feed their children.

"That they are turning off essential appliances so they can afford internet access for their kids to do their homework.

“How can this be right in a society like ours? And yet food banks in our network tell us this is only set to get worse as their communities are pushed deeper into financial hardship.”