Trussell Trust, the charity behind food banks across the UK, is trialing a "financial triage" scheme in bid to help claimants with their financial worries as Christmas approaches. The programme is thanks to a £500,000 donation from MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis and is currently being tested across eight Trussell Trust food banks.

The initiative is part of the charity's "More Than Food Programme" plan, which is designed to help food banks extend on the ground support beyond emergency food provision to address some of the underlying causes of food poverty.

The plan is to eventually roll the scheme out to 30 outlets across the UK. But, in the meantime, IBTimes UK was granted access to the Hammersmith and Fulham food bank in London, where a Citizens Advice official was on hand to help claimants. The other pilot sites include Cardiff, Coventry, Dundee, Durham, Stroud, Bangor and Newry.

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