A single mother, from west Belfast, has said she doesn’t know how her “children would have been fed” without food banks.

It comes after the anti-poverty charity Trussell Trust released annual figures showing a 71% increase in the number of emergency food parcels distributed in Northern Ireland in the past year compared to five years ago.

The figures show that more than 77,000 parcels were provided by food banks to people “facing hunger” in Northern Ireland over the past year. The charity says it’s equivalent to “one parcel every seven minutes”.

Deirdre, a mother of two, said food banks were “a lifeline” for her.

Deirdre said she had worked since she was 15 and had three jobs to get herself through university, but turned to food banks after “having to come out of my professional job”.

“It was very embarrassing,” she said.

She used to donate to food banks before having to turn to them for help.

“Little did I know that I would ever be in a position where I was going to be one of them people,” she said.

“It was at a stage in my life where I didn’t know what to do”.

The figures from Trussell show “significant” numbers of parents “struggling to afford the essentials”.

There has been a 68% rise in families with children needing emergency food, since 2019/20, and a 47% rise in parcels to support children under the age of five.

The charity said many food banks are reporting “severe levels of hardship”, with some parents rationing their own food to feed their children.

While the organisation has seen a decrease in the total number of emergency food parcels distributed compared to the previous year, they said “the need for emergency food is still persistently high”.

Deirdre said people don’t realise that “the working poor are still in need of food banks”.

“Nobody knows the situation they’re ever going to face.

“Nobody knows whether or not you’re going to lose a job. Nobody knows whether or not your mental health might change. Nobody knows what got you to the stage where you are going to have to avail of a food bank.”

Deirdre added that she’s “really not surprised” by the number of people relying on food banks and called on the policy makers to do something.

She said there should not be a “need for food banks” adding that charities are “picking up the slack” for the government.

“All these decisions that people are making about cuts… are being made by people who have not experienced what we have experienced,” she said.

Deidre added: “I don’t know how my children would have been fed” without food banks.

“I was too embarrassed to go to relatives.”

Without this help, Deirdre said: “I probably would have made sure they were okay and I wasn’t.”

“That’s the stark reality of the society that we live in today.”

Fiona Cole, policy manager in Northern Ireland at Trussell, said: “A whole generation has now grown up in a country where sustained high levels of food bank need feels like the norm.

“This should be a massive wake-up call to government.”

“We urgently need the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver on the original ambition for an anti-poverty strategy.”

She added: “The Westminster government will fail to improve living standards unless it rows back on its harmful policy choices on disability benefits, support for children, and housing support.”

Ken Scott, manager of Bangor Foodbank and Community Support, said: “Our food bank is seeing far too many people who are forced to need our help.

“Food donations are not keeping up with the level of need we are seeing, and this is putting us under a lot of strain.

“It’s not right that anyone should be forced to turn to charity for emergency food,” he added.

Deirdre said the reason people are going to food banks is “not because we mismanage money. It’s not because we can’t budget. It’s because there isn’t enough to budget.”

“Universal Credit is not enough to live on.”