Give Food
App · Misc References · 11 actions
Look up UK food banks and what they are asking to have donated, through Give Food's keyless public API. Find the food banks and distribution locations nearest a postcode or address, read any food bank's current shopping list as a list of items, watch the needs published across the country for a particular item, summarise what the food banks near a place want between them, and see the food banks in any parliamentary constituency. Every food bank comes with the constituency it sits in and the MP for it. Give Food keeps the largest public database of the UK's food banks, covering nearly 3,000 locations. No account or API key required.
Actions
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Find food bank locations near a place | Find the food bank locations closest to a UK postcode, address, place name or coordinate, nearest first, with the needs of the food bank behind each. |
| Find food banks near a place | Find the food banks closest to a UK postcode, address, place name or coordinate, nearest first, each with how far away it is and what it is currently asking to have donated. |
| Get a constituency | Get one parliamentary constituency and every food bank inside it, with what each is currently asking to have donated. |
| Get a food bank | Get everything Give Food holds on one food bank: what it is currently asking to have donated, the places it operates from, the donation points it collects at, its charity registration, its MP and constituency, and the food banks nearest to it. |
| Get a food bank's needs | Get what one food bank is asking to have donated, as a list of items ready to write into a message, a document or a shopping list, along with anything it has too much of and where to take a donation. |
| Get a need | Get one published shopping list by its id: what the food bank asked for, what it had too much of, when Give Food found it, and who published it. |
| List food bank locations | List the places food banks operate from: the church halls, community centres and shops where food is handed out or collected, each with its address, postcode and the food bank behind it. |
| List food banks | List the UK food banks Give Food knows of, with the address, phone number, website and constituency of each, and the slug the other actions take. |
| List parliamentary constituencies | List the UK parliamentary constituencies Give Food records food banks against, on the 2024 boundaries, each with the country it is in and the slug 'Get a constituency' takes. |
| List recent needs | List the most recent shopping lists published by food banks anywhere in the UK, newest first, each parsed into items with the food bank that asked for them. |
| Summarise what food banks near a place need | Read the shopping lists of the food banks nearest a UK place together, and return the items they are asking for with how many of them want each: the 'what should I put in the trolley' answer for an area, in one request instead of a search followed by a lookup per food bank. |
Find food bank locations near a place
Find the food bank locations closest to a UK postcode, address, place name or coordinate, nearest first, with the needs of the food bank behind each. Give Food answers with both kinds of place in one list: 'organisation' is a food bank's own address and 'location' is one of the places it runs, so the nearest way to reach help comes back whichever it is. No API key required.
Inputs
- Place
locationtextRequired - Where to search from, in the UK: a postcode, a full address, a place name, or a 'latitude,longitude' pair. Give Food looks up anything that is not a pair of numbers, and searches only the UK.
- Limit
limitnumber - How many of the twenty nearest to return. Defaults to all twenty.From 1 to 20. Default:
20.
Outputs
countnumber- How many places are in this response.
locationtext- The place that was searched from.
location_typetext- 'coordinates' when a latitude and longitude were given, 'address' when Give Food looked the place up.
locationslist- The nearest places, closest first.
total_countnumber- How many Give Food returned, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"count": 1,
"location": "Sidmouth",
"location_type": "address",
"locations": [
{
"address": "Church Lane, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Devon",
"distance_km": 0.4,
"distance_m": 402,
"distance_mi": 0.25,
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"foodbank": {
"name": "Sid Valley",
"network": "Independent",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"urls": {
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/",
"shopping_list": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/"
}
},
"foodbank_name": "Sid Valley",
"foodbank_slug": "sid-valley",
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"id": "0c4d1a77-9e2b-4c1a-8f0b-2a5d3e6f1b04",
"lat_lng": "50.73410,-3.21870",
"latitude": 50.7341,
"longitude": -3.2187,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sidbury Village Hall",
"needs": {
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"number": 4,
"status": "items"
},
"network": "Independent",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 0RB",
"slug": "sidbury-village-hall",
"type": "location",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/sidbury-village-hall/",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/sidbury-village-hall/"
}
}
],
"total_count": 20,
"truncated": true
}Find food banks near a place
Find the food banks closest to a UK postcode, address, place name or coordinate, nearest first, each with how far away it is and what it is currently asking to have donated. Give Food returns the ten nearest. Use it to answer 'where is my nearest food bank and what do they need'. No API key required.
Inputs
- Place
locationtextRequired - Where to search from, in the UK: a postcode, a full address, a place name, or a 'latitude,longitude' pair. Give Food looks up anything that is not a pair of numbers, and searches only the UK.
- Limit
limitnumber - How many of the ten nearest to return. Defaults to all ten.From 1 to 10. Default:
10.
Outputs
countnumber- How many food banks are in this response.
foodbankslist- The nearest food banks, closest first.
locationtext- The place that was searched from.
location_typetext- 'coordinates' when a latitude and longitude were given, 'address' when Give Food looked the place up.
total_countnumber- How many Give Food returned, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"count": 1,
"foodbanks": [
{
"address": "Church Street, Sidmouth, Devon",
"alt_name": null,
"charity": {
"register_url": "https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1160655/",
"registration_id": "1160655"
},
"closed": false,
"country": "England",
"created": "2019-04-02T11:12:13",
"distance_km": 1.61,
"distance_m": 1609,
"distance_mi": 1.0,
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"id": "b3d0f2a4-6d19-4a0f-9f2e-1c9a0f4b7e21",
"lat_lng": "50.68881,-3.23926",
"latitude": 50.68881,
"longitude": -3.23926,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sid Valley",
"needs": {
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"number": 4,
"status": "items"
},
"network": "Independent",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 8LY",
"secondary_phone": null,
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"urls": {
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/",
"shopping_list": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/"
}
}
],
"location": "EX10 8LY",
"location_type": "address",
"total_count": 10,
"truncated": true
}Get a constituency
Get one parliamentary constituency and every food bank inside it, with what each is currently asking to have donated. Use it to cover a whole seat in one request rather than one food bank at a time, or to write to an MP about the food banks in their constituency. Give Food names the MP on each food bank's own record rather than on the constituency, so 'Get a food bank' or either search is where to read it. No API key required.
Inputs
- Constituency
slugtextRequired - The constituency's slug, as returned by 'List parliamentary constituencies'. A name is accepted too and turned into a slug ('Islington North' becomes 'islington-north'). The 2024 boundaries are the ones in use.
Outputs
constituencyobject- The constituency and the food banks in it.
Example output
{
"constituency": {
"country": "England",
"foodbank_count": 1,
"foodbanks": [
{
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"lat_lng": "50.68881,-3.23926",
"latitude": 50.68881,
"longitude": -3.23926,
"name": "Sid Valley",
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"status": "items",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/"
}
],
"name": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"slug": "honiton-and-sidmouth",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
}
}
}Get a food bank
Get everything Give Food holds on one food bank: what it is currently asking to have donated, the places it operates from, the donation points it collects at, its charity registration, its MP and constituency, and the food banks nearest to it. Takes the slug from 'List food banks' or 'Find food banks near a place', or the food bank's name. No API key required.
Inputs
- Food bank
slugtextRequired - The food bank's slug, as returned by the list and search actions. A name is accepted too and turned into a slug ('Sid Valley' becomes 'sid-valley').
Outputs
foodbankobject- The food bank, with its needs, locations and neighbours.
Example output
{
"foodbank": {
"address": "Church Street, Sidmouth, Devon",
"alt_name": null,
"charity": {
"register_url": "https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1160655/",
"registration_id": "1160655"
},
"closed": false,
"country": "England",
"created": "2019-04-02T11:12:13",
"delivery_address": "",
"delivery_lat_lng": "",
"donationpoint_count": 1,
"donationpoints": [
{
"address": "Church Street, Sidmouth, Devon",
"id": "f27a8c31-5b6e-4d02-9a13-7c8e0d4f5a92",
"lat_lng": "50.68930,-3.24010",
"latitude": 50.6893,
"longitude": -3.2401,
"name": "Co-op Sidmouth",
"opening_hours": "Mon-Sat 07:00-22:00, Sun 10:00-16:00",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": null,
"postcode": "EX10 8LY",
"slug": "co-op-sidmouth",
"url": "https://www.coop.co.uk/store-finder",
"wheelchair_accessible": true
}
],
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"id": "b3d0f2a4-6d19-4a0f-9f2e-1c9a0f4b7e21",
"lat_lng": "50.68881,-3.23926",
"latitude": 50.68881,
"location_count": 1,
"locations": [
{
"address": "Church Lane, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Devon",
"id": "0c4d1a77-9e2b-4c1a-8f0b-2a5d3e6f1b04",
"is_donation_point": true,
"lat_lng": "50.73410,-3.21870",
"latitude": 50.7341,
"longitude": -3.2187,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sidbury Village Hall",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": null,
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 0RB",
"slug": "sidbury-village-hall",
"url": null
}
],
"longitude": -3.23926,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sid Valley",
"nearby_foodbanks": [
{
"address": "Beaufort Road, Exeter, Devon",
"homepage": "https://exeter.foodbank.org.uk/",
"lat_lng": "50.71090,-3.54120",
"latitude": 50.7109,
"longitude": -3.5412,
"name": "Exeter",
"shopping_list_url": "https://exeter.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/",
"slug": "exeter",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/exeter/"
}
],
"need": {
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"number": 4,
"status": "items"
},
"network": "Independent",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 8LY",
"secondary_phone": null,
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"urls": {
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/",
"shopping_list": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/"
}
}
}Get a food bank's needs
Get what one food bank is asking to have donated, as a list of items ready to write into a message, a document or a shopping list, along with anything it has too much of and where to take a donation. 'status' says whether the list is real ('items'), deliberately empty ('nothing') or not known to Give Food ('unknown'), so a workflow never reports 'we could not find their list' as 'they need nothing'. No API key required.
Inputs
- Food bank
slugtextRequired - The food bank's slug, as returned by the list and search actions. A name is accepted too and turned into a slug ('Sid Valley' becomes 'sid-valley').
Outputs
excess_item_countnumber- How many items there are too much of.
excess_itemslist- What they already have too much of.
excess_texttext- The excess list exactly as published.
foodbankobject- Who published this list, and how to reach them.
foundtext- When Give Food found this list.
item_countnumber- How many items are asked for.
itemslist- What to donate, in the order the food bank wrote it. Give Food asks that this order is kept.
need_idtext- The id of this shopping list, which 'Get a need' takes.
needs_texttext- The shopping list exactly as published, one item per line.
statustext- 'items' when there is a list, 'nothing' when the food bank is asking for nothing right now, 'unknown' when Give Food has not found their list.
Example output
{
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"excess_text": "Baked beans",
"foodbank": {
"address": "Church Street, Sidmouth, Devon",
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"name": "Sid Valley",
"network": "Independent",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"postcode": "EX10 8LY",
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/"
},
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"need_id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"needs_text": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"status": "items"
}Get a need
Get one published shopping list by its id: what the food bank asked for, what it had too much of, when Give Food found it, and who published it. Ids come from 'List recent needs', from 'Get a food bank' or from 'Get a food bank's needs', each of which prints the id in its own step summary as well as returning it. Each need is a fixed record of a moment, so it can be quoted later without changing. No API key required.
Inputs
- Need
need_idtextRequired - The need's id, a UUID. Take one from 'List recent needs', or from the 'need_id' a food bank's needs come back with. Both print it in the step summary too.
Outputs
needobject- The shopping list, parsed into items.
Example output
{
"need": {
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"foodbank": {
"name": "Sid Valley",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/"
}
},
"foodbank_name": "Sid Valley",
"foodbank_slug": "sid-valley",
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/need/6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29/",
"status": "items",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/need/6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29/"
}
}List food bank locations
List the places food banks operate from: the church halls, community centres and shops where food is handed out or collected, each with its address, postcode and the food bank behind it. There are about twice as many locations as there are food banks. Narrow by name, town, postcode or network. No API key required.
Inputs
- Search
querytext - Optional. Keep only locations whose name, address, postcode, food bank or constituency contains this text.
- Network
networktext - Optional. Keep only food banks in one network. Leave empty for all of them.One of:
Trussell(Trussell (formerly the Trussell Trust)),IFAN(IFAN (Independent Food Aid Network)),Independent(Independent (in neither network)). - Limit
limitnumber - How many records to return. Give Food publishes the whole country in one response, so this decides how much of it comes back: 'total_count' always says how many matched. Defaults to 50.From 1 to 5000. Default:
50.
Outputs
countnumber- How many locations are in this response.
known_countnumber- How many open locations Give Food holds in total.
locationslist- The locations that matched, up to the limit.
networktext- The network this list was filtered to.
querytext- The search text this list was filtered by.
total_countnumber- How many matched the filters, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"count": 1,
"known_count": 2986,
"locations": [
{
"address": "Church Lane, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Devon",
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"foodbank": {
"name": "Sid Valley",
"network": "Independent",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"urls": {
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/",
"shopping_list": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/"
}
},
"foodbank_name": "Sid Valley",
"foodbank_slug": "sid-valley",
"id": "0c4d1a77-9e2b-4c1a-8f0b-2a5d3e6f1b04",
"lat_lng": "50.73410,-3.21870",
"latitude": 50.7341,
"longitude": -3.2187,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sidbury Village Hall",
"network": "Independent",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 0RB",
"slug": "sidbury-village-hall",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/sidbury-village-hall/",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/sidbury-village-hall/"
}
}
],
"network": null,
"query": "Sidmouth",
"total_count": 1,
"truncated": false
}List food banks
List the UK food banks Give Food knows of, with the address, phone number, website and constituency of each, and the slug the other actions take. Narrow the list by name, country or network, or leave the filters empty for the whole country. This is how a food bank's name becomes the slug 'Get a food bank' needs. No API key required.
Inputs
- Search
querytext - Optional. Keep only food banks whose name, address, postcode or constituency contains this text. Exact name matches come first.
- Country
countrytext - Optional. Keep only records in one country of the UK. Leave empty for all of them.One of:
England,Wales,Scotland,Northern Ireland,Isle of Man,Jersey,Guernsey. - Network
networktext - Optional. Keep only food banks in one network. Leave empty for all of them.One of:
Trussell(Trussell (formerly the Trussell Trust)),IFAN(IFAN (Independent Food Aid Network)),Independent(Independent (in neither network)). - Limit
limitnumber - How many records to return. Give Food publishes the whole country in one response, so this decides how much of it comes back: 'total_count' always says how many matched. Defaults to 50.From 1 to 5000. Default:
50.
Outputs
countnumber- How many food banks are in this response.
countrytext- The country this list was filtered to.
foodbankslist- The food banks that matched, up to the limit.
known_countnumber- How many open food banks Give Food holds in total.
networktext- The network this list was filtered to.
querytext- The search text this list was filtered by.
total_countnumber- How many matched the filters, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"count": 1,
"country": null,
"foodbanks": [
{
"address": "Church Street, Sidmouth, Devon",
"alt_name": null,
"charity": {
"register_url": "https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/1160655/",
"registration_id": "1160655"
},
"closed": false,
"country": "England",
"created": "2019-04-02T11:12:13",
"email": "info@sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk",
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"id": "b3d0f2a4-6d19-4a0f-9f2e-1c9a0f4b7e21",
"lat_lng": "50.68881,-3.23926",
"latitude": 50.68881,
"longitude": -3.23926,
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"name": "Sid Valley",
"network": "Independent",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"phone": "01395 597070",
"politics": {
"district": "East Devon",
"mp": "Richard Foord",
"mp_parl_id": 4869,
"mp_party": "Liberal Democrat",
"parliamentary_constituency": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
},
"ward": "Sidmouth Town"
},
"postcode": "EX10 8LY",
"secondary_phone": null,
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"urls": {
"homepage": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/",
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/",
"shopping_list": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/"
}
}
],
"known_count": 1372,
"network": null,
"query": "Sid Valley",
"total_count": 1,
"truncated": false
}List parliamentary constituencies
List the UK parliamentary constituencies Give Food records food banks against, on the 2024 boundaries, each with the country it is in and the slug 'Get a constituency' takes. This is how a constituency's name becomes the id for the food banks inside it. No API key required.
Inputs
- Search
querytext - Optional. Keep only constituencies whose name or slug contains this text. Exact name matches come first.
- Country
countrytext - Optional. Keep only records in one country of the UK. Leave empty for all of them.One of:
England,Wales,Scotland,Northern Ireland,Isle of Man,Jersey,Guernsey. - Limit
limitnumber - How many records to return. Give Food publishes the whole country in one response, so this decides how much of it comes back: 'total_count' always says how many matched. Defaults to 50.From 1 to 5000. Default:
50.
Outputs
constituencieslist- The constituencies that matched, up to the limit.
countnumber- How many constituencies are in this response.
countrytext- The country this list was filtered to.
known_countnumber- How many constituencies Give Food holds in total.
querytext- The search text this list was filtered by.
total_countnumber- How many matched the filters, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"constituencies": [
{
"country": "England",
"name": "Honiton and Sidmouth",
"slug": "honiton-and-sidmouth",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/in/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/constituency/honiton-and-sidmouth/"
}
}
],
"count": 1,
"country": null,
"known_count": 650,
"query": "Honiton",
"total_count": 1,
"truncated": false
}List recent needs
List the most recent shopping lists published by food banks anywhere in the UK, newest first, each parsed into items with the food bank that asked for them. Give Food publishes the hundred most recent. Filter by item to watch for something in particular ('nappies', 'UHT milk'), or by food bank to follow one. No API key required.
Inputs
- Item
itemtext - Optional. Keep only needs asking for something whose wording contains this text.
- Food bank
foodbanktext - Optional. Keep only needs from one food bank, by name or slug.
- Limit
limitnumber - How many needs to return, out of the hundred most recent. Defaults to 25.From 1 to 100. Default:
25.
Outputs
countnumber- How many needs are in this response.
foodbanktext- The food bank this list was filtered to.
itemtext- The item this list was filtered by.
needslist- The needs that matched, newest first.
published_countnumber- How many needs Give Food published in this feed.
total_countnumber- How many matched the filters, before the limit.
truncatedtrue/false- Whether the limit cut the list short.
Example output
{
"count": 1,
"foodbank": null,
"item": "nappies",
"needs": [
{
"excess": "Baked beans",
"excess_item_count": 1,
"excess_items": [
"Baked beans"
],
"foodbank": {
"name": "Sid Valley",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"urls": {
"html": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/foodbank/sid-valley/"
}
},
"foodbank_name": "Sid Valley",
"foodbank_slug": "sid-valley",
"found": "2026-08-18T09:41:02",
"id": "6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29",
"item_count": 4,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk",
"Nappies (size 5)",
"Tinned fruit"
],
"needs": "Tinned tomatoes\nUHT milk\nNappies (size 5)\nTinned fruit",
"self": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/need/6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29/",
"status": "items",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/api/2/need/6ecf9dbb-1c17-4c9e-a1c8-eb59fc3edf29/"
}
],
"published_count": 100,
"total_count": 1,
"truncated": false
}Summarise what food banks near a place need
Read the shopping lists of the food banks nearest a UK place together, and return the items they are asking for with how many of them want each: the 'what should I put in the trolley' answer for an area, in one request instead of a search followed by a lookup per food bank. Food banks whose list Give Food has not found are counted separately rather than read as needing nothing. No API key required.
Inputs
- Place
locationtextRequired - Where to search from, in the UK: a postcode, a full address, a place name, or a 'latitude,longitude' pair. Give Food looks up anything that is not a pair of numbers, and searches only the UK.
- Food banks to read
foodbank_limitnumber - How many of the nearest food banks to read, up to the ten Give Food returns. Defaults to 5.From 1 to 10. Default:
5.
Outputs
asking_countnumber- How many of them published a list of items.
foodbank_countnumber- How many food banks were read.
foodbankslist- The food banks that were read, nearest first.
item_countnumber- How many different items are wanted between them.
itemslist- Every item asked for nearby, most-wanted first. Items are grouped by their exact wording, ignoring case and surrounding punctuation, since each food bank writes its own list.
locationtext- The place that was searched from.
location_typetext- 'coordinates' when a latitude and longitude were given, 'address' when Give Food looked the place up.
nothing_countnumber- How many are asking for nothing right now.
unknown_countnumber- How many have no list Give Food could find. Their needs are not zero, they are unknown.
Example output
{
"asking_count": 3,
"foodbank_count": 5,
"foodbanks": [
{
"distance_km": 1.61,
"distance_mi": 1.0,
"item_count": 2,
"items": [
"Tinned tomatoes",
"UHT milk"
],
"name": "Sid Valley",
"shopping_list_url": "https://sidvalleyfoodbank.org.uk/what-we-need/",
"slug": "sid-valley",
"status": "items",
"url": "https://www.givefood.org.uk/needs/at/sid-valley/"
}
],
"item_count": 2,
"items": [
{
"foodbank_count": 3,
"foodbanks": [
"Sid Valley",
"Exeter",
"Honiton"
],
"item": "UHT milk"
},
{
"foodbank_count": 2,
"foodbanks": [
"Sid Valley",
"Exeter"
],
"item": "Tinned tomatoes"
}
],
"location": "EX10 8LY",
"location_type": "address",
"nothing_count": 1,
"unknown_count": 1
}