THE number of people using foodbanks has reached a record one million due to an increase in workers on low pay having to seek emergency help for food, new figures have revealed.

The Trussell Trust, which runs foodbanks in Blackburn and the Ribble Valley, said almost 400,000 children were among those receiving at least three days’ supplies from the charity’s 445 foodbanks across the UK in the past year.

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The trust said 1,084,604 people received supplies in the last financial year, an increase of 19 per cent over the last year.

Problems with benefits were the main reason people visited foodbanks. But the trust said there had been an increase in visits by those on low incomes.

Trussell Trust UK foodbank director Adrian Curtis said: “Despite welcome signs of economic recovery, hunger continues to affect significant numbers of men, women and children in the UK today.

“It is difficult to be sure of the full extent of the problem as Trussell Trust figures do not include people who are helped by other food charities or those who feel too ashamed to seek help.

“Trussell Trust foodbanks are increasingly hosting additional services like debt counselling and welfare advice, helping more people out of crisis.

“The Trussell Trust’s latest figures highlight how vital it is that we all work to prevent and relieve hunger in the UK.

“It is crucial that we listen to the experiences of people using foodbanks to understand the nature of the problems they face. What people who have gone hungry have to say holds the key to finding the solution.”

Not just poverty-stricken areas have seen a rise in the use of foodbanks.

Ruth Haldane, of Clitheroe’s foodbank, said: “We opened 20 months ago in a rural area, where foodbanks are different from city ones, but in that 20 months have fed 2,300 people in the Ribble Valley — what is known as an affluent area.

“The main reason is low income followed by benefits delays.”

To give to your local foodbank, visit the section entitled “find your nearest foodbank” on the Trussell Trust website.