The Trussell Trust has shortened its name to just Trussell in a bid to improve accessibility and reduce barriers to those needing support. 

The anti-poverty charity, which works with a network of more than 1,400 food banks across the UK, said its first rebrand for 20 years introduced a new strapline of “Ending hunger together”.

It said that alongside updates to its logo, the charity had updated its fonts, colours and visuals to make them clearer and more accessible. 

It said the brand refresh had been co-designed with people with lived experience of hardship and food banks working on the front line. 

“Research shows the refreshed brand provides greater clarity of Trussell’s work as an anti-poverty charity, better positioning itself to galvanise support for its vision, as well as reducing unnecessary costs for food banks in the long term by removing complicated workarounds to challenges posed with the previous visual identity,” the charity said. 

It said its updated website met AA accessibility standards and had a “smoother online support journey that prioritises ‘Get Help’ pages, which were designed in partnership with lived experience experts”. 

The charity – which was founded in 1997 initially to support children in Bulgaria and opened its first food bank in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2000 – said that between April 2023 and March 2024, it provided more than 3.1 million emergency food parcels, the most recorded in a single year and almost double the number distributed five years before.

The charity declined to give a figure for the cost of the rebrand but said the exercise was covered by funding by long-term partners and equated to 0.14 per cent of the charity’s annual income in 2023/24, which is yet to be announced. 

The charity had an income of £58m in the year to the end of March 2023, of which 0.14 per cent would represent £81,200. 

It said that due to its commitment to minimising costs and waste, the brand changes would be rolled out across its community of food banks over the next two years, allowing food banks to use up existing materials.

Emma Revie, chief executive of Trussell, said: “Barriers such as disability, limited internet access and isolation all make it more difficult for someone experiencing hunger to seek support. 

“We have worked closely with food banks and people with lived experience of hardship to create a brand that makes it as easy as possible for people to get the help they need by improving accessibility.

“Our refreshed brand helps us to be clearer about the solutions that will ensure that no one needs a food bank to survive and galvanises people to play their part towards our mission to end hunger. 

“Whether we’re policymakers, faith leaders or volunteers, we all have a part to play in creating a more just future. And by working together, we will reach our vision much sooner.”