The number of emergency food parcels handed out across the Test Valley has been revealed.

Research carried out by The Trussell Trust showed the number of emergency food parcels handed out across the UK in a single year has reached its highest level at more than three million.

The trust said the figures had risen for packages for both adults and children and the total is now almost double that of five years ago.

The figures produced show the amount of emergency food parcels which were distributed to people across the UK between April 1 and March 31 2017/2018, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24.

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The statistics are a measure of volume rather than unique users. The data is collected using an online system into which food banks enter data from each food bank voucher, and the number of emergency food parcels is recorded.

In the Test Valley, the picture is similar to that on a national scale, with the figures having nearly doubled between 2017/18 to 2023/24.

From April 1 2023 to March 31 2024, 5,655 parcels were handed to adults in and around Basingstoke, while 3,838 were distributed to children, totalling up to 9,493 parcels. These parcels were distributed from 11 centres local across the Test Valley.

The overall figure is nearly 100 more parcels than what were distributed from April 1 2022 to March 31 2023. In the previous year, 9,395 parcels were distributed, with 5,733 going to adults and 3,662 given to children in the area.

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This differs massively to the data provided from 2017 to 2020. From April 1 2017 to March 31 2018, 4,954 parcels were distributed from 14 centres across the borough, consisting of 2,954 parcels to adults and 2,000 to children.

The figures are similar to those in 2018 to 2019, where a total of 4,829 parcels were distributed. This was around 1,200 fewer than were distributed the following year from 2019 to 2020, where 6,059 parcels were given out.

From 2020 to 2021, 6,756 parcels were distributed; 4,053 were given to adults, and 2,703 given to children. 

Some 422 food banks operated in the Trussell Trust network in 2023/24. Parcels refer to the number of emergency food parcels distributed by food banks. These can either provide three-days or seven days’ worth of supplies.

Food parcels are linked to the local authority based on where the specific location is based, rather than where the person needing support is living.