Nov 11, 2022, 14:01 pm
Published: November 11, 2022
Food banks in the United Kingdom are on the brink of "breaking point" as a record number of British people seek assistance, while the stage has been set for British nurses to stage a walkout for the first time in history amid a worsening cost of living crisis.
The grim warning by the Trussell Trust, which supports a network of over 1,200 food banks across the country and works to end UK hunger and poverty comes after the NGO revealed nearly 1.3 million emergency food parcels have been supplied to people over the past six months alone.
The leading charity, says its new research, has shown that around half a million of those food parcels that have been handed out over the past six months went to children.
The trust has warned food banks have reached "breaking point" because of what it described as a tsunami of people in need, driven by the cost of living crisis. It has demanded the government to provide stronger support in its upcoming autumn statement, which offers an update on the government's future economic plans for the country.
The organization says the record-breaking levels of food assistance, with 320,000 people being forced to turn to food charities for the first time must be considered as a matter of extreme concern for the newly appointed ministers in Downing Street.
In a reflection of how the British population is slowly slipping into poverty, the figures released by the NGO (whose workforce of 28,000 volunteers also provide urgent support to those in poverty) more emergency food parcels were handed out during the April to September period than ever before.
The volunteer workforce is set to experience its busiest winter to date, as the charity group says the level of donations provided by the public does not currently meet the urgent needs of the people suffering as result of a record inflation rate, that has been exacerbated by an unprecedented rise in energy bills.
And in a further sign of concern, one in five people that are being referred to a food bank within the Trussell Trust network are among the working class household category. This means the number of people who are employed are increasingly seeking the help of food banks, reflecting the dire situation of the middle class.
The number of food packages that have been handed out is double the number of that which was provided in the same timeframe before the pandemic and a third more than had been handed out between April and September last year.
The Trussell Trust's State of Hunger research found 95% of people being referred to food banks are destitute, essentially meaning they are not receiving enough income to buy the most basic essentials that working class households would normally require.
Speaking to the media, Josie Barlow, a manager at one food bank in the city of Bradford, said one foodbank user told her "buying milk is a luxury now".
"We are fortunate to be able to help people and we work hard to support them in both the short and long term, but we are also facing challenges," Barlow pointed out.
However, she warned "we have seen a huge increase in people coming to the food bank in the last two months compared with the same period last year and our stock levels are very low for this time of the year."
Emma Revie, who is chief executive at the Trussell Trust, says "these new statistics show that, even in summer months, people are struggling to afford the essentials and we are expecting that this winter will be the hardest yet for food banks and the people they support. This is not right."
She added that the leading charity group is "calling for the prime minister to act decisively in next week's budget. We urge the UK government to realize their commitment of supporting people on the lowest income with a broad package of support.
"As well as ensuring that benefits rise with inflation as soon as possible, this must go further to close the gap between price rises and incomes over the winter."
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/478573/...r-historic
Food banks in the United Kingdom are on the brink of "breaking point" as a record number of British people seek assistance, while the stage has been set for British nurses to stage a walkout for the first time in history amid a worsening cost of living crisis.
The grim warning by the Trussell Trust, which supports a network of over 1,200 food banks across the country and works to end UK hunger and poverty comes after the NGO revealed nearly 1.3 million emergency food parcels have been supplied to people over the past six months alone.
The leading charity, says its new research, has shown that around half a million of those food parcels that have been handed out over the past six months went to children.
The trust has warned food banks have reached "breaking point" because of what it described as a tsunami of people in need, driven by the cost of living crisis. It has demanded the government to provide stronger support in its upcoming autumn statement, which offers an update on the government's future economic plans for the country.
The organization says the record-breaking levels of food assistance, with 320,000 people being forced to turn to food charities for the first time must be considered as a matter of extreme concern for the newly appointed ministers in Downing Street.
In a reflection of how the British population is slowly slipping into poverty, the figures released by the NGO (whose workforce of 28,000 volunteers also provide urgent support to those in poverty) more emergency food parcels were handed out during the April to September period than ever before.
The volunteer workforce is set to experience its busiest winter to date, as the charity group says the level of donations provided by the public does not currently meet the urgent needs of the people suffering as result of a record inflation rate, that has been exacerbated by an unprecedented rise in energy bills.
And in a further sign of concern, one in five people that are being referred to a food bank within the Trussell Trust network are among the working class household category. This means the number of people who are employed are increasingly seeking the help of food banks, reflecting the dire situation of the middle class.
The number of food packages that have been handed out is double the number of that which was provided in the same timeframe before the pandemic and a third more than had been handed out between April and September last year.
The Trussell Trust's State of Hunger research found 95% of people being referred to food banks are destitute, essentially meaning they are not receiving enough income to buy the most basic essentials that working class households would normally require.
Speaking to the media, Josie Barlow, a manager at one food bank in the city of Bradford, said one foodbank user told her "buying milk is a luxury now".
"We are fortunate to be able to help people and we work hard to support them in both the short and long term, but we are also facing challenges," Barlow pointed out.
However, she warned "we have seen a huge increase in people coming to the food bank in the last two months compared with the same period last year and our stock levels are very low for this time of the year."
Emma Revie, who is chief executive at the Trussell Trust, says "these new statistics show that, even in summer months, people are struggling to afford the essentials and we are expecting that this winter will be the hardest yet for food banks and the people they support. This is not right."
She added that the leading charity group is "calling for the prime minister to act decisively in next week's budget. We urge the UK government to realize their commitment of supporting people on the lowest income with a broad package of support.
"As well as ensuring that benefits rise with inflation as soon as possible, this must go further to close the gap between price rises and incomes over the winter."
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/478573/...r-historic