Public repond by digging deep to help society's poorest

An emergency appeal by the UK’s biggest foodbank network has contributed to a 71% increase in income.

Annual accounts posted by The Trussell Trust revealed fundraising income was responsible for 95% of the charity’s turnover for the 2022-2023 period.

Total income was £58.0m, up from £34.2m the previous year, with public donations accounting for £35.5 of this - an increase of £14.5m on the year before.

It ran an emergecy appeal in October 2022 due to the cost-of-living crisis and raised around £15m. It received £450,000 in legacies and also one donation of £100,000.

The charity, which runs 1,400 foodbanks, told Civil Society: “Due to the widespread recognition across the country of the challenges faced by people experiencing hunger and poverty, we saw incredible support for our cause,” the accounts state.

“The generosity of supporters, including the response to our first ever emergency appeal, surpassed our expectations and therefore resulted in a small surplus of £2.8m.

“This surplus will be invested into our strategic work across future years.”

Trussell Trust’s total expenditure for the year-end was £55.2m, up from £50.6m the previous year, making it a record year for expenditure.

It issued £20.8m in grants to foodbanks while it invested £7.3m into its helpline which is run in conjunction with Citizens Advice.

Some £13.3m was spent on staffing for 2022-23 with salaries rising from £8.9m to £11.3m with the charity employing around 285 people.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, told Civil: “We launched our first-ever emergency appeal last year and we saw a really generous response to that.

“So our income has gone up again, which is great and allowed us to continue expanding at that higher level to meet the needs of our food banks. Because a lot of that money came in at the end of the year, we’ve carried it into this year and we're spending it now.”