Foodbank use for south west children 'quadruples since 2011'
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| The Trussell Trust runs a charity which runs 28 Foodbanks across the South West |
Lying deep amongst the
news stories the last 12 months, is the ongoing story which refuses
to go away. Largely ignored by the press and television media,
possibly by accident but more likely to be on the directions of some
mysterious government department, the continuing scandal of the
increasing number of people reliant on food bank charities is the
subject which the Department of Work and Pensions and various other
government departments and of course the ConDem Coalition government,
would really like to go away and by adopting a policy of “if we
ignore the situation for long enough the problem will cease to exist,
in any case the usual charities can provide a short-term solution to
the short-term problem”, they can pretend that the scandal of
people in the United Kingdom, having to rely on charity to feed their
families is no more than a passing phenomena, blown out of all
proportion by “activists” and left wing politician seeking to
make capital.
The reality of course, is
completely different. As I have mentioned in previous blogs on the
subject, the number of people reliant on food banks has continued to
increase over the last 10 years and is significantly increasing over
the past 24 months as cuts and delays are made to welfare payments
and “caps” are imposed on benefit payments. This is a 21st
Century scandal for which the politicians must take the full
responsibility and we, as a nation should feel shame for allowing
this to happen. According to latest figures from the Trussel Trust,
the number of people in the United Kingdom who now rely on charity to
put food on the table for the families stands in excess of 900,000.By
any measure this figure is a conservative estimate as more than one
charity provides this valuable service.
As we put our small food
contribution into the shopping trolley, provided for the purpose of
collecting food for the local food bank, at our local Asda, it is
noticeable how over recent months, the contents of the food trolley
seem to be lower than was the case previously. This of course may be
due in part, to the fact that people who normally make contributions
to the food bank collection points, are themselves feeling the pinch
of continued wage restraint unending cuts, and the seemingly endless
government drive for austerity. I recently heard a television
presenter interviewing a member of the stop food waste campaigns, ask
a question regarding the supermarket phenomenon of buy one get one
free which invariably leads to more waste food going into the bin.
The response surprised me a little, but on reflection seems an
eminently sensible suggestion. The campaigner responded that he was
in fact in favour of the “buy one get one free” offers in
supermarkets, as the “free” one could be placed into the trolley
for collection by the food bank. In this way some deserving family
gains the benefit of the contribution, and the waste of the extra
item is eliminated.
One of the hallmarks of
any civilised society, is the way it treated children. From the
continuing rise in child poverty, to the recent revelations and
enquiries into child sexual abuse, society has a responsibility to
protect children and to ensure that the well-being of children is of
the utmost importance. It is disturbing mental note, that a recent
report on BBC television, has revealed that the number of children
being fed through food banks in south-west England, has quadrupled
over the space of the last three years. Statistics from the Trussel
Trust, reveal that the average of 430 children per month has risen to
more than 1600 in less than three years. This figure of course
represents only those children living in Cornwall Devon and
Gloucestershire, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that this
increase in usage is repeated throughout the other regions of the
country. As in many other situations, the effects and impact of
circumstances where children are involved is somehow magnified in the
minds of responsible adults, to the extent that many people feel that
more measures are required to alleviate the problem. Also with the
involvement of children I would suggest that the feelings of shame
and indignation amongst ordinary people, are intensified with the
resultant hostility towards those in government and in government
departments who can be deemed to be responsible.
Interviewed on the BBC
South programme “Inside out”, a young single mother Lynne Tonkins, visibly
distressed at the situation, wondered how she would face the next few
weeks before during and after the Christmas holidays.
"I felt as any mum would feel, ashamed that they can't support their children in the ways necessary and we're talking about the basic need of food alone and I found that very difficult," she said.
It is a problem
which will be facing hundreds if not thousands of families around the
country. Between now and December 31, no more than six weeks away,
perhaps we should all consider what we can do practically, to help in
some small way to lessen the problem. Perhaps we can find a few extra
tins or packets, toilet rolls, nappies, biscuits or any other
commodity which can contribute in some way to giving some family,
particularly where those families have young children, the Christmas
holiday period which may be less bleak than last year's Christmas.
Remember the buy one get one free example, of which there will
certainly be many filling the shells of supermarkets around the
country. Where there is a suitable collection point for the food
bank, please give as generously as you feel able. Should your
supermarket not operate such a food bank collection facility, as is
the case when we last visited our local Tesco store, albeit that was
some months ago, perhaps you should ask the customer services in the
supermarket (a) why are they not allowing such a collection, and (b)
will they now consider providing a trolley for the local food bank to
make regular collections.
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| A local Foodbank. |
This is a problem which
will not go away, regardless of how long the press and television
media will ignore it. Nor for that matter will those voices in
government who suggest that people use food banks as a result of
their own actions and choices and consequently are not deserving of
any additional help or assistance. It is for us as a nation to
impress upon our elected representatives that we will not tolerate
their continuing arrogance, patronising and divisive austerity
measures in pursuit of a political dogma which belongs in the 19th
century or even the first part of the 20th century.
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