A foundation has handed over £3.5m to the Trussell Trust on the first day of its emergency appeal - and is challenging others to also donate.

The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust promised to make a series of other donations to charities fighting food poverty, as organisations warn of a looming humanitarian crisis for those on low incomes.

The food bank charity said it was appealing for support because the months ahead were “likely to be the most challenging winter” it had ever faced.

Trussell Trust supports 1,300 food banks across the country and warned that demand for help was already rising amid inflation and higher energy bills.

The manager of one food bank said: “We are seeing a level of fear in people that we haven’t seen before.”

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, said: “We never wanted to run an appeal like this; we would rather there was no need for food banks at all.

“But right now they are on the frontline of this cost of living emergency and we have no other option.”

The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust said it would announce more funding for food poverty charities later this winter, and hoped its donation to Trussell Trust would encourage more philanthropists to support the appeal.

Julia and Hans Rausing said: “The Trussell Trust and its network of foodbanks are relied upon by many thousands of people which is why we are supporting this important organisation once again.

“We hope others will also give generously to this emergency appeal in what is clearly an escalating food poverty crisis.”

Hans Rausing is the grandson of Tetra Pak founder Ruben Rausing.

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