Food Banks at Breaking Point

[SS427 Camaro]

And it’s only going to get worse……

[Jockman]

Any link?

[Ridgemont]

If I was a sceptic I would be wondering exactly how this might be possibly a thing given the exceptionally redistributive effects of the current government.

Unless, you know, as was noted some 30 years ago by Kevin Costner, if you build it they will come.

[Ridgemont]

I dug a link since the OP didn t.

https://www.nwlondoner.co.uk/life/03122025-food-ba...


You might wonder exactly how this is a thing when you look at the detail provided :

Camden is the seventh wealthiest London borough, with a £48,000 median annual income, yet 70,300 food parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from just four Trussell locations.

This is almost double that of second-place Ealing, which distributed 38,000 food parcels in the same period at seven separate locations.

Hackney is London s fifth-wealthiest borough, with a £49,000 median annual income, yet 31,200 parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from 22 Trussell locations.

Camden also ranks highest in per capita terms, with 324 parcels per 1000 residents; however, the rest of the top five boroughs for food parcel distribution shift when looking at the figure per 1,000 residents.

People in working households made up 30% of Trussell Trust food bank users in 2024, an increase from 24% in 2022, according to charity data.

Kusner said: People are struggling in these affluent boroughs just as much as anywhere else, with dramatic increases in food and energy prices.

Working people are struggling much more than they were.

The end user for a food bank has changed; you can have nurses, midwives and other working professionals who can t support their families with their wages.


Riiight.

Midwife salary:

https://www.reed.com/articles/midwife-bands-salary...

Nurse salary:

https://www.nurses.co.uk/nursing-pay-guide

[S366]

Ridgemont said:

I dug a link since the OP didn t.

https://www.nwlondoner.co.uk/life/03122025-food-ba...


You might wonder exactly how this is a thing when you look at the detail provided :

Camden is the seventh wealthiest London borough, with a £48,000 median annual income, yet 70,300 food parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from just four Trussell locations.

This is almost double that of second-place Ealing, which distributed 38,000 food parcels in the same period at seven separate locations.

Hackney is London s fifth-wealthiest borough, with a £49,000 median annual income, yet 31,200 parcels were distributed here in 2024/25, from 22 Trussell locations.

Camden also ranks highest in per capita terms, with 324 parcels per 1000 residents; however, the rest of the top five boroughs for food parcel distribution shift when looking at the figure per 1,000 residents.

People in working households made up 30% of Trussell Trust food bank users in 2024, an increase from 24% in 2022, according to charity data.

Kusner said: People are struggling in these affluent boroughs just as much as anywhere else, with dramatic increases in food and energy prices.

Working people are struggling much more than they were.

The end user for a food bank has changed; you can have nurses, midwives and other working professionals who can t support their families with their wages.


Riiight.

Midwife salary:

https://www.reed.com/articles/midwife-bands-salary...

Nurse salary:

https://www.nurses.co.uk/nursing-pay-guide

Can’t help but think that much of it is due to people refusing to live within their means and would rather live on the bread line in expensive areas rather than move to a more affordable location.

[Ridgemont]

S366 said:

Can t help but think that much of it is due to people refusing to live within their means and would rather live on the bread line in expensive areas rather than move to a more affordable location.

Not sure about the living within means but it does raise the question why midwives and nurses in one of the most expensive places in London are living there. London has a mass transit system for a reason. If the median salary in that locale is twice what the salary of a midwife is I’m not surprised they are struggling especially if the local food marts are priced accordingly. But why still live there? London is literally crossed with mass transit systems?

[rscott]

Ridgemont said:

S366 said:

Can t help but think that much of it is due to people refusing to live within their means and would rather live on the bread line in expensive areas rather than move to a more affordable location.

Not sure about the living within means but it does raise the question why midwives and nurses in one of the most expensive places in London are living there. London has a mass transit system for a reason. If the median salary in that locale is twice what the salary of a midwife is I m not surprised they are struggling especially if the local food marts are priced accordingly. But why still live there? London is literally crossed with mass transit systems?

Would they save £250 a month by moving to a cheaper area (that's about the cost of a travel card).

[AB]

It's a weird one, I live in the wealthiest postcode in my county, we're 20 mins from one of the poorest.

Local supermarket had a post up giving away leftover food for those that needed it just before Christmas. You should have seen some of the people who showed up and filled the boots of their Range Rovers

I couldn't believe it, you had people turning up to there being nothing left, people who had come on a bus, who looked in desperate need, being turned away, because people leaving the shop were putting all they could fit into their trollies on the way back to their cars.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the pictures.

I know there are elderly people round here, asset rich cash poor, sitting in expensive houses but with very little money, but this was piss taking on a huge scale. I couldn't sleep at night if I'd done the same.

I work with a London based charity at the moment, a couple of days a month, and spent some time in and around Hounslow, threw a Christmas thing at a local community centre, I see first hand how desperate some people are to give their kids some nice food.

[borcy]

Doesn't say in the article what the threshold for a food parcel is.

[valiant]

rscott said:

Would they save £250 a month by moving to a cheaper area (that's about the cost of a travel card).

And move out of London and you have the cost of travel into the city which can easily cost £5k+.

It’s not a lifestyle choice to live in London especially when it’s where you were born and brought up. Places like Hackney may seem ‘wealthy’ now but it certainly wasn’t before and has areas or deprivation which may be disguised by a few areas of high wealth but is still a struggling borough for many. A quick walk down Mare St or Ridley Rd would quickly prove that.

London needs nurses and midwives just like anywhere else and it’s a problem that needs solving. The insane prices for property (either to rent or buy) is pricing out key workers especially when their wages have not risen as fast.

[heisthegaffer]

Dont forget as I understand it, Nurses etc do long hours so thry may save a bit of money moving away which ismpartially swallowed up by travel plus the far longer days inc longer travel.

If I was in hospital, what would I want medical staff content, energised with a reasonable diet or absolutely worn out from an even longer day and starving?

[Frimley111R]

AB said:

It's a weird one, I live in the wealthiest postcode in my county, we're 20 mins from one of the poorest.

Local supermarket had a post up giving away leftover food for those that needed it just before Christmas. You should have seen some of the people who showed up and filled the boots of their Range Rovers

I couldn't believe it, you had people turning up to there being nothing left, people who had come on a bus, who looked in desperate need, being turned away, because people leaving the shop were putting all they could fit into their trollies on the way back to their cars.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the pictures.

I know there are elderly people round here, asset rich cash poor, sitting in expensive houses but with very little money, but this was piss taking on a huge scale. I couldn't sleep at night if I'd done the same.

I work with a London based charity at the moment, a couple of days a month, and spent some time in and around Hounslow, threw a Christmas thing at a local community centre, I see first hand how desperate some people are to give their kids some nice food.

Should have sat there for a while taking photos. Turning up on a RR is utterly taking the piss!!

[butchstewie]

NP&E "I'm struggling like everyone else in the £100K plus bracket is we're having to make sacrifices like reconsidering private school for the kids and how much we pay into the pension"

Also NP&E "All these nurses and midwives who need food banks are clearly living beyond their means".

[borcy]

butchstewie said:

NP&E "I'm struggling like everyone else in the £100K plus bracket is we're having to make sacrifices like reconsidering private school for the kids and how much we pay into the pension"

Also NP&E "All these nurses and midwives who need food banks are clearly living beyond their means".

[Wills2]

There is certainly someone broken in our economy, for me it's the cost of housing/utility bills and council tax that is stripping people's income meaning that they have very little left.

[POIDH]

So what we are saying is that due to the incessant rise in housing costs, which were meant to make us all 'rich', we're actually facing a cost of living crisis?

Who would have thought it....

[Patio]

AB said:

It's a weird one, I live in the wealthiest postcode in my county, we're 20 mins from one of the poorest.

Local supermarket had a post up giving away leftover food for those that needed it just before Christmas. You should have seen some of the people who showed up and filled the boots of their Range Rovers

I couldn't believe it, you had people turning up to there being nothing left, people who had come on a bus, who looked in desperate need, being turned away, because people leaving the shop were putting all they could fit into their trollies on the way back to their cars.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the pictures.

I know there are elderly people round here, asset rich cash poor, sitting in expensive houses but with very little money, but this was piss taking on a huge scale. I couldn't sleep at night if I'd done the same.

I work with a London based charity at the moment, a couple of days a month, and spent some time in and around Hounslow, threw a Christmas thing at a local community centre, I see first hand how desperate some people are to give their kids some nice food.

Every now and then we'll have a go at trying to get a grab bag/too good to go locally

Had some good ones and some bad

I remember one time we managed to get one from greggs/cooplands and turned up at the alloted 5 to 8pm with code ready on the phone. There were at least 2 brand new range Rovers pulled up at the same time and a woman jumped out, swanned up to the door and collected 2 bags right in front of us

[irc]

A friend of a friend has used foodbanks. Not so poor he can't indulge in an alcohol and cannabis habit though.

[borcy]

Patio said:

Every now and then we'll have a go at trying to get a grab bag/too good to go locally

Had some good ones and some bad

I remember one time we managed to get one from greggs/cooplands and turned up at the alloted 5 to 8pm with code ready on the phone. There were at least 2 brand new range Rovers pulled up at the same time and a woman jumped out, swanned up to the door and collected 2 bags right in front of us

I guess everyone loves a bargain. I bet they bin half of it.

[HTP99]

borcy said:

Patio said:

Every now and then we'll have a go at trying to get a grab bag/too good to go locally

Had some good ones and some bad

I remember one time we managed to get one from greggs/cooplands and turned up at the alloted 5 to 8pm with code ready on the phone. There were at least 2 brand new range Rovers pulled up at the same time and a woman jumped out, swanned up to the door and collected 2 bags right in front of us

I guess everyone loves a bargain. I bet they bin half of it.

Don't see the issue, it's open to anyone and it has to be paid for.