Two point six million. That is the number of emergency food parcels provided by Trussell Trust food banks across the UK in 2025. It is a number that should stop us in our tracks — not because it represents failure, but because it represents the extraordinary generosity of thousands of volunteers and donors, and the extraordinary need of millions of people who had nowhere else to turn.

The Trussell Trust is clear that food banks are not the solution to hunger. They are a response to it. The organisation's long-term goal is a future where food banks are not needed — where the social security system is strong enough, and wages high enough, that no one faces the choice between eating and heating.

But in the meantime, the food banks are there. And the churches that host them — which make up a significant proportion of Trussell Trust's network — are doing something that goes beyond logistics. They are creating spaces where people who are struggling are met with dignity, not judgement. Where a food parcel comes with a conversation, a prayer if wanted, and the knowledge that someone cares.

The figures are a call to action on two fronts: to keep giving, volunteering, and supporting the network that is meeting immediate need — and to keep advocating for the systemic change that would make that network unnecessary.