The number of food parcels delivered by a major food bank charity in Southwark slightly fell in 2025 compared to the previous year but is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The Trussell Trust, which runs 1,400 food banks across the country and has four in Southwark, gave out 9,571 emergency parcels to residents in the borough last year, including 2,578 to children.
This marked a 6 per cent drop from the previous year when 10,194 were given out but is still a 43 per cent increase compared to the number in 2019 (6,666).
In the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark the number was down by 5 per cent from 2024, from 4,479 to 4,237 in 2025.
The drop in the borough mirrors the pattern nationally, with the Trussell Trust providing 2.6 million food parcels across the UK last year, down by 12 per cent from 2024.
However the Trussell Trust warned that the number of people reliant on food parcels remains significantly above pre-pandemic levels.
The charity said: “While easing inflation and economic recovery have helped some households begin to stabilise, many people remain trapped in severe hardship.
“Foodbanks say the figures highlight the importance of both community support and long-term solutions to address the root causes of hunger and poverty.”
Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said: “I want to put foodbanks out of business! I have run an emergency foodbank since 2017 in Bermondsey and I am enormously grateful to everyone who volunteers and runs organisations helping local people with food and other support. But we are the fifth wealthiest country on the planet and no one in Southwark should be reliant on charity for daily vitals like food frankly.
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“Labour policies like increasing the minimum wage, providing breakfast clubs at schools and lifting other help has meant a drop in foodbank dependency in Southwark and across the country.
“I welcome this good news, but we must go further, and I hope that one day I can be successful in my campaign to end our community’s and our country’s reliance on foodbanks.”
