Feed a Family: Food banks charity warns of long hard winter ahead for many
A charity which manages over 1,200 food banks across the UK - including four in Shropshire - is calling on the Government to 'do more' to help people afford the essentials they need.
The Trussell Trust support a nationwide network of food banks and provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. It also campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
In Shropshire, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Welshpool and District and Whitchurch food banks all come under the umbrella of the Trussell Trust, with others being independent.
In response to the recent mini budget, Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie said it provided no additional support to help people afford the essentials and the charity was deeply concerned it would fail to protect people from needing a food bank.
Feed a Family:
She said: "This comes as the food banks in our network continue to provide 50 per cent more parcels to people across the UK in recent months than in the same period before the pandemic.
"That means an emergency food parcel is provided to someone facing hardship every 13 seconds, and this mini budget will do nothing to change that.
“It’s wrong that people here in the UK are going without the essentials we all need to get by. As prices continue to rise, we will see more and more people forced to use food banks.
“The package of support offered in May was effective and we had hoped that the Government would build on this at a time when the cost of living is continuing to soar. Opportunities such as easing decreases on benefits – which push people deeper into financial hardship - have been missed.
Figures show that between April 2021 and March 2022, food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided more than 2.1 million parcels to people facing financial hardship, or an emergency food parcel is provided to someone facing hardship every 13 seconds.
Lorraine Schulze, the project manager for Medway Foodbank, in Rochester, Kent, said they had been spending up to £1,000 a week to buy food to make up for the shortfall in essential items for our food parcels.
Although not run by the Trussell Trust, but Crisis Support, the manager of Telford Food Bank Simon Lellow reported a similar situation, with the charity having to make up £1,000 as week shortfall through its own reserves.
The Trussell Trust has identified five ways the cost of living is impacting on food banks: Increased need; Needing to purchase food; Increased running costs; Need for cold food packs and Increased opening hours.
They are appealing for donations to keep coming in at food banks throughout the county.
For more information about the work of the Trussell Trust, go to trusselltrust.org
