Trussell Impact Update March 2026

Impact Update

The sobering reality of UK poverty today and a hopeful reminder that change is possible

Today, more than 1 in 5 people in the UK are living in poverty - including 4.5 million children¹. Concerningly, almost half of people living in poverty are facing very deep poverty, where households have an income far below the poverty line.

With so many people unable to afford life’s essentials, food banks provide a lifeline. But they weren’t set up to respond to this level of need. They’re stretched to breaking point trying to help people on the lowest incomes access the help they need.

Thanks to your support, food banks can continue to provide this vital help: an emergency food parcel, a warm, welcoming space, a listening ear, and access to quality advice to help in the longer term.

Levels of need remain historically high and the complexity of need is deepening. Whilst we continue to work to end hunger today, we are committed to our vision of a UK without the need for food banks. A future where our society has the appropriate structures and support in place to ensure communities can thrive. Change can happen and shifts forward are a source of hope.

Positive action from the UK government

Lifting the two -child limit

We’re delighted that joint campaigning efforts brought an end to the two -child limit on social security payments. From April 2026 this policy will be gone, lifting 670,000 people out of severe hardship, including 470,000 children.

Increase in the Universal Credit standard allowance

For the first time since it was introduced, basic rates of Universal Credit will see a higher than inflation increase in every year of this parliament. By 2029/30 this will be a 5% real -terms rise, lifting 95,000 people out of severe hardship.

A Fair Repayment Rate in Universal Credit

Debt deductions from Universal Credit payments are now limited to 15% . This was our first major policy shift, after years of work, and came in the government’s first budget in 2024.

Employment that protects from hunger and hardship

We have seen three important steps toward making work a reliable route out of poverty:

1. Investment in employment support, including £1bn for disabled people and £270m for a Youth Guarantee to help young people into work and education.

2. A new ‘right to try’ work for disabled people, removing automatic reassessments of disability benefits when starting a job, helping reduce fear of losing vital income.

3. Stronger employment rights, earlier unfair dismissal protections, reforms to zero -hours contracts, and a new Fair Work Agency to tackle insecure work driving poverty.

Change is possible

Reflecting the different communities that Trussell food banks work within across the UK, there continues to be a wide spectrum of contexts and unique challenges they face locally. Some, particularly in areas of high deprivation, face sustained high demand for their services without the long -term resources to meet them, which is where Trussell is supporting them to build stability. Others, like Hollingdean Foodbank, have been able to shift focus to community support and away from emergency food provision.

Hollingdean Foodbank in Brighton and Hove, on England's south coast, opened during the pandemic in response to local need for crisis support and emergency food.

Assessing community needs

Food bank Project Manager, Laurel, used her expertise as a debt coach to work to identify specific areas of need in their community. She found that people were facing loneliness, mental health challenges, support with social security, debt and bills. Through the additional advice services available through the food bank, people were able to develop personalised plans helping to target their individual needs. As people were connected with support that put money in their pockets, the number of people needing emergency food started to drop.

People were asking

for support

just for some contact with other human

beings.

As isolation and loneliness was being felt across the community, this became the focus of the work – it was community connection that people needed, not emergency food. Now they provide a community café, offering both a space to connect socially and vital personalised support.

charity Brightstore , which helps to provide affordable food to people in the community, meaning that the support is still there for people who need it but through a more sustainable route than emergency food provision.

More than food

Food banks across the UK are having similar conversations about how to best support people out of hardship, creating routes to tailored, timely advice and support, and learning from food banks like Hollingdean . It’s thanks to your commitment that we can adapt how we help someone today, while working towards a tomorrow where we can end hunger for good.

Change is happening thanks to the support of people like you. We are so grateful.