In the week before Christmas, North Bristol & South Gloucestershire Foodbank recorded the highest demand in our history. In a single week, 881 people were referred for emergency food support, compared with a previous peak of 681. This was not a one‑off seasonal surge.
Demand stayed high throughout December, with 1,620 people supported across the month (excluding The Bridge Food Project). Together, these figures show sustained pressure on households rather than a short-term increase around Christmas.
Across 2025 as a whole, we:
- Fulfilled 7,066 vouchers
- Supported 15,045 people
- Including 5,187 children supported
These numbers reflect who is being affected most by rising costs and low incomes. 65% of our food parcels go to households with children. 69% of people who use our food bank are disabled. Families and disabled people are more likely to face higher living costs and have less room to absorb financial shocks, which is why they are overrepresented in our figures.
We also monitor how food comes into the food bank and how it goes out. Last year, our community donated 103,470kg of food and toiletries. That generosity remains essential to everything we do. However, donations alone no longer cover what is needed. To ensure every referral could be met with a balanced food parcel, we had to buy an additional 35,713kg of stock. Put simply, donated food covered around three in every four crates we distributed. We used donated money to buy the remaining quarter, focusing on items that are rarely donated and on filling gaps when demand outpaces supply.
You can help us respond to this level of need in three practical ways:
