When Hunger Is Hidden: Why The Feeding Resilience Pilot Matters.

Earlier today I attended a powerful Food for Thought webinar hosted by the Food Standards Agency, featuring new research from Trussell (Report Link) that explored a question many of us working in food and community spaces quietly wrestle with:

Why are so many people going without food and other essentials, but not accessing charitable food support?

The findings were sobering, this wasn't a hopeful webinar.

Across the UK, an estimated 4.5 million households are food insecure, yet six in ten of those households have not accessed food banks or any other form of charitable food provision. This isn’t because the need isn’t there. It’s because hunger is increasingly hidden, normalised, and internalised.

This research helps explain one of the reasons the Feeding Resilience pilot was created. It shows why support around food needs to go beyond short-term fixes, and instead look at the bigger picture of how people access, afford, and experience food in their everyday lives.

“Other People Have It Worse”: The Normalisation of Hardship

One of the strongest themes from the webinar was that 76% of people not accessing food support felt their situation wasn’t “bad enough”. Many believed others needed help more than they did — even while skipping meals, cutting heating, or going without basic toiletries.

The research showed that:

• One in four of these people were going without three or more essentials

• Over one in five were experiencing very low food security — the most severe level, including regular hunger and skipped meals

• Older adults (55+) were least likely to access food support, despite need

• People without children or caring responsibilities were more likely to “cope quietly”

This quiet coping is not resilience — it’s survival. And it comes at a cost to physical health, mental wellbeing, confidence and connection.

Beyond Food Banks: Why Access Alone Isn’t Enough

The webinar also highlighted barriers that go far beyond supply:

• Shame, stigma and embarrassment (1 in 5 people)

• Fear of judgement, especially in close-knit communities

• Practical barriers: transport costs, opening hours, carrying food

• Concerns about food choice, dietary needs, or being seen in religious spaces

• A strong preference to “get by” through extreme budgeting, debt, or family support — until those options are exhausted

Crucially, the research made clear that charitable food provision will never work for everyone. Even the most well-run food bank cannot overcome all of these barriers. Which brings us to Feeding Resilience.

Feeding Resilience: Meeting People Where They Are

The Feeding Resilience pilot in Telford & Wrekin was designed partly with this in mind but also the need to reframe thinking around the entire Food System.

Rather than asking people to cross a threshold labelled “crisis”, the pilot creates multiple, low-pressure entry points where food is part of everyday community life — not a last resort.

How?

Through:

• Food conversations that listen first, without judgement

• Cooking sessions that build skills, confidence and dignity

• Community meals that feel social, not charitable

• Growing spaces that reconnect people with food and agency

• Shared activity, rather than referral-led intervention

Food is the connector — but relationships, trust and choice are the foundation.

Where and Who?

Feeding Resilience is rooted in Brookside, Stirchley and Dawley, working alongside:

• Community centres

• Allotments and gardens

• Local partners and residents

• People experiencing food insecurity and those simply feeling stretched, isolated or unheard

Importantly, the pilot recognises that many people who need support will never call themselves “food insecure”. They may still be working. They may still be “managing”. They may still say they’re fine.

So we don’t ask people to prove hardship.We invite them to take part.

Why This Matters Now

The Trussell research makes one thing clear:Hunger in the UK is far bigger than food banks. 

It is embedded in rising costs, low incomes, poor transport, social isolation, stigma and a growing belief that going without is simply “how things are now”.

Feeding Resilience exists to gently but firmly challenge that belief — by:

• Making food support visible without being stigmatising

• Rebuilding community around food

• Holding space for conversation, not just crisis

• Supporting people earlier, before resilience is exhausted

When?

The Feeding Resilience pilot runs until April 2026, with activities rolling out across the early part of the year — shaped continuously by what residents tell us they want and need.

This is not about fixing people.It’s creating safe places where asking for — and offering — support feels human.