Cost of living crisis: Peterborough foodbanks say demand for food has increased by up to 50% as inflation rises

One Peterborough foodbank boss has said the demand for food has increased by up to 50 per cent, as the cost of living continues to rise in the UK.

The escalation in demand for food across the city coincides with the rate of inflation in the UK, which has increased at its fastest rate on record last month.

On Wednesday, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed inflation soaring to a 40-year high, reaching 9% in the year to April.

This is a two per cent increase from seven per cent in March.

Christine Nice, manager of West Raven Community Cafe and Garden, in Hampton Court, which offers a free food bag service, said the rise in inflation has contributed to the demand of food prices increasing.

“We’ve had more people asking for food bags because people can’t afford to live now,” she said.

“We’ve been giving out 100 food bags a week - two weeks ago it was up to 150 because of the rise in demand.

“We get the same people week after week, but recently we’ve had a lot of new people coming in.

"We have one lady who regularly asks for one bag once a month because at the end of each month she can’t afford to eat.”

A spokesperson from Paston Farm Community Foundation and the Paston Farm Centre, in Freston, added: “In the last two months we have noticed numbers go up.

“There is a lot of shame which comes with people having to reach out and ask for help - but anybody can use community fridges if it helps them get through the cost of living crisis.”

Cocoa Fowler, founder of Food For Nought, delivers surplus food from supermarkets and farms to foodbanks across Peterborough.

He said: “Because of the cost of living crisis people are not donating as much as they could before.

“The rise in inflation is adding to everything.

"We’re bracing ourselves for more bad news.”

But he said he hasn’t seen a shortage in “core foods”.