The Trussell Trust posted a £16.4m deficit last year as it handed out £28m to help food banks cope with surging demand, its accounts show.
The value of grants made by the Trussell Trust increased almost seven-fold between 2021 and 2022, and were shared between 400 food banks across the UK.
Food banks have been “on the frontline of yet another crisis” since inflation started to drive up the cost of food and other essentials at the start of 2022, the trust said, with demand for food parcels rising 80 per cent during the last four years.
The grants are used to help food banks provide advice and long-term support to beneficiaries as well as emergency food and goods.
The charity raised £34.1m last year and spent £50.6m, recording a substantial annual deficit of £16.4m, according to its accounts for the year ending in March 2022.
Emma Revie, the charity’s chief executive, said the trust made the decision to use its reserves to increase “planned investment” in its food banks network to meet growing demand.
The Trussell Trust’s income fell from £57.8m in 2020/21, a year when it made a surplus of nearly £40m. Its free reserves at the end of 2021/22 are worth £13m.
The accounts show that it made grants worth £27.9m last year, compared to just £4.2m in 2020/21.
The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust donated £3.5m to the Trussell Trust in October after the charity launched an appeal to support it through what it called “the most challenging winter” it had ever faced.