Initially, the charity worked in Bulgaria to improve conditions for children sleeping at Sofia Central Railway Station.

In 2000, they began to work in the UK too, opening the first food bank in their home city of Salisbury after they were contacted by a British mother who was struggling to feed her children.

[6] The top three reasons for people needing to use a food bank in the Trussell Trust network last year were 'income not covering essential costs', 'benefit delays', and 'benefit changes'.

Generally, non-perishable food is donated by the public at a range of places, such as schools, faith groups and businesses, as well as supermarket collection points.

[9] The Trussell Trust supports a number of charity coalitions including End Hunger UK, All Kids Count, Lift the Ban, and Stop the #DebtThreats.

Their own campaign, #5WeeksTooLong, calls for an end to the current five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment when people apply for the benefit.

[10] In November 2023, The Trussell Trust calculated that a single adult in the UK in 2023 needs at least £29,500 a year to have an acceptable standard of living, up from £25,000 in 2022.