Deliveroo and Trussel Trust research shows more Edinburgh families expected to use food banks in coming three months

New research has revealed that 17 per cent of Edinburgh parents say they are ‘very likely’ to use food bank services in the coming three months.

A survey commissioned by Deliveroo last month showed that 35 per cent of Edinburgh participants said they had cut back on food spending with 85 per cent stating that their monthly shop had been more expensive in the last three months.

A hundred families from the Capital with children aged18 or younger took part in the survey, with the stark figures demonstrating the impact that the current cost of living is having on families.

More than half of Edinburgh families said their monthly shopping cost has ‘increased a lot’ compared to just 13 per cent who said the cost is the same and nearly 60 per cent stated they have reduced their central heating usage.

As part of new partnership between Deliveroo will use customer donations to support Trussell Trust food banks

The data also showed that almost half of Edinburgh residents taking part in the survey said they had skipped a meal at least once in the last three months with over a third of participants admitting they had avoided cooking hot food due to energy costs.

The research, carried out by Stack Data Strategy, comes as Deliveroo announced a new partnership with UK food charity the Trussell Trust this week. The new collaboration aims to help tackle food insecurity across the nation by distributing emergency food parcels to people in need.

The award winning delivery service will now offer its users the option to donate via the app by means of rounding up order totals, with all proceeds going to the UK charity.

The Trussell Trust supports 1300 food banks across Britain including seven in Edinburgh and Deliveroo hope to provide up to two million meals through their new alliance over the next 12 months.

Last year the Trussell Trust distributed 84,555 emergency food parcels in Scotland between April and September

Deliveroo founder and CEO, Will Shu said: "Supporting people facing hardship has never been more important. We’re committed to using our platform to play a positive role in the communities in which we operate.”

He added: “We want to play our part in helping to tackle food insecurity in the UK.”

Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust, said: “Families face the biggest income squeeze in a generation, people are telling us they’re having to make impossible decisions between heating and eating and being forced to turn to food banks to feed themselves.

“Our new partnership with Deliveroo will help us support food banks to provide emergency food and in-food bank support to thousands of people in immediate crisis.”

She added: “We’re incredibly grateful to Deliveroo and their customers for their support.”

The current cost of living crisis has seen food banks across the UK experience a rise in service users, including the Edinburgh Food Project who has recorded a 43 per cent upsurge in emergency food demand in recent weeks.

Bethany Biggar, director of the organisation said the first week of April was up 20 per cent when compared to the first week of March adding: “We are definitely are starting to see an increase. I think the worst is still yet to come, people probably wont have received their first electricity bill yet. They’ll just be aware of what’s coming.”