They don’t think it will change any time soon.
Wendy Doyle, of the Leeds South and East Foodbank(Image: Wendy Doyle)
A food bank in Leeds has said they are facing an “extremely hard” challenge as more and more people in the city need help.
Across the UK, food banks are facing increased demand as more people struggle to make ends meet. In addition, many are facing lower numbers of donations and fewer volunteers.
Wendy Doyle is the operations manager for the Leeds South and East Food Bank, and detailed some of the challenges food banks around the country are facing. During the Christmas period and into January, the situation has been particularly hard, with many people having to choose between buying presents for their family, or buying food.
Wendy said: “So us as a food bank, we actually didn’t just do food parcels, we actually gave out toys. At our centres, we had people that had donated toys, been out and bought new toys, for children.”
They also worked to give out winter coats due to the cold temperatures.
However, demand has contiuned to rise in January. According to figures from the Leeds Food Aid Network, food bank use has risen massively in the past few years
Wendy Doyle, of the Leeds South and East Foodbank(Image: Wendy Doyle)
In 2019-2020, there were 41,606 times people benefitted from foodbanks in Leeds, with 108,345 meals given out from drop-ins and street outreaches. A total of 15,968 food parcels were given out informally.
By 2024-2025, people benefited from foodbanks 48,411 times, with 180,994 meals given out from drop-ins and street outreaches, and 81,350 food parcels given out informally. In recent years, there has been a drop in food bank usage as many turn to food pantries, which have seen steady growth, and which gave out 44,183 food allocations in Leeds in 2024-2025.
Dave Paterson, chair of the Leeds Food Aid Network, said: “The actual physical supply of some forms of food is becoming harder to do. More and more food providers are having to buy food because donations just don’t keep up with demand.
“Food pantries have increased significantly, so we now have about 25 food pantry outlets, so you can go to InterACT for example at Meanwood, or Armley Action YUM, or St. Vincent’s, they all do food pantries, which means people can go there and they can pay three to six pounds to get £15 to £30 of food.”
With all of these services now facing increased demand, Wendy says donations are becoming harder to come by. “Everybody’s feeling the pinch,” she said.
Dave suggests a variety of reasons behind the drop in donations, with the cost-of-living crisis causing everyone to struggle more, despite the efforts of food banks. He said: “Fundamentally, I don’t think donations keep up with demand, and there probably is some fatigue in that because people have been asked to give food provision for the last 15 years.
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“It just isn’t always able to keep up with the demand that’s there.”
Wendy said: “The most shocking for me is the people that are actually working, that are having to access a food bank. The people that are non-working, the benefits that they get just don’t stretch that far either.”
Families are struggling with things like rent, and are going into debt just to be able to afford food. Many do not realise help is available, and the volunteers do their best to point them in the right direction if they can.
The Leeds South and East Foodbank(Image: Wendy Doyle)
Many families and people are being referred to the food bank by Job Centres and other agencies, as demand continues to grow. They are also increasingly helping people in other areas, such as the Christmas toys the Leeds South and East Foodbank were helping families with.
Other food banks have been providing fuel vouchers, and they often work with people who have been sanctioned and had their benefits reduced.
Wendy said: “It’s extremely hard for our volunteers. We’ve had to set up so that we can make sure they’re keeping an eye on their own wellbeing and their own mental health as well.
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“Volunteers everywhere are hard to come by, we’ve had a decrease in volunteers as well.”
Sadly, despite the efforts of food banks like Wendy’s, she doesn’t see much changing anytime soon. She said: “I don’t think the numbers will drop.
“I think they’ll potentially keep going up. The amount of people that are coming through the door that are working as well, that can’t make their money stretch. When you’ve got fuel prices going through the roof like they do, and then food prices on top of that.”
“The costs of everything has gone up, no matter what you look at, but wages and benefits and things like that are just not in line with what has gone up.
“Where are the people going to go when they want to eat? They need food.”
If you want to help your local food bank, Wendy urges people who can afford it to just buy an extra tin to donate, or to offer your time as a volunteer.
Anyone who needs help can contact their local food bank, support worker, GP, school, or any other frontline agency for assistance.
