'Overwhelmed' food banks forced to turn people away after running out of food

Food banks are running out of supplies amid an 'overwhelming' influx of new people falling into destitution during the cost of living crisis, with some charities forced to turn away needy families.

Several officials told The Independent that they were out of food this summer, with some reducing the size of packages and having "painful" conversations about whether to limit the number of people they can help.

The Independent Food Aid Network (Ifan), a network of 550 groups across Britain, said the safety net was 'collapsed' due to continued name rise ber of aid seekers, with empty shelves increasingly prevalent.

The Trussell Trust - which runs a network of more than 1,300 food banks - said "many" of its outlets had been hit by shortages as demand increased. The organization has called on the government to "urgently" increase social benefits so that more people can afford basic necessities.

A coalition of 70 charities has urged candidates for the Conservative leadership to more than double the level of emergency assistance for low-income people. families to avert 'catastrophe' this winter, while Labor joined the Liberal Democrats in calling for the energy price cap to be frozen.

"The huge demand for these last few months made us run out of food, we ran out of money, we had nothing,” says Tanisha Bramwell, manager of the Dewsbury Food Bank, who was forced to stop distributing parcels for several days in June. . "It was really upsetting to turn people away as we are their last hope."

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