Nick Waterfield, chair of the local Church Action on Poverty group in Sheffield, offers further thoughts on the ‘complex’ reasons why people use food banks.
‘Poverty may be complex, but it is not inevitable’ (part 2)
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Category Archives: Food poverty
Poverty may be complex, but it isn’t inevitable
In this guest post, food poverty researcher Jane Perry responds to Theresa May’s comments about the reasons for food bank use.
The new food banks? Our plans for a social supermarket franchise!
Church Action on Poverty is launching a new project that will enable people on low incomes across the UK to avoid the Poverty Premium and escape food poverty, by getting good food at fair prices. Our Business Development Officer Dave Nicholson explains…
‘Feed my Sheep!’ – SCM joins End Hunger UK campaign
We are delighted to announce that the Student Christian Movement is joining the End Hunger UK campaign. Ruth Wilde, Faith in Action intern at SCM, has written this blog to introduce the campaign to students.
Still Hungry: new food bank research sheds light on who faces hunger, why & for how long
Today (19 July), the findings are published from one of the most systematic and detailed studies yet conducted of people receiving emergency food in the UK. Still Hungry has been prepared by University of Oxford and University of Chester researchers, drawing on statistical data from West Cheshire Foodbank, an ally of Church Action on Poverty.
An open letter to the new Prime Minister: Join with us in tackling Foodbank Britain
Dear Prime Minister
The litmus for your One Nation Premiership will be your ability to reach out and tackle foodbank Britain.
The vison you set out on the steps of Number 10 for a Premiership committed to social justice and One Nation compassionate Conservatism was bold. The challenge of uniting a country divided by inequalities of health, life expectancy and opportunity is great.
But to achieve your goal of uniting the country, you will have to reach out far beyond struggling middle Britain of working families with mortgages and anxieties over getting their kids into a good school.
The past few years have been marked by the growth of foodbank Britain. Of families in and out of work struggling to put food on the table; of children turning up at school hungry and returning to school after summer holidays without the benefit of free school meals, poorly fed, with their educational attainment and life chances diminished as a result. Of families being forced to turn to foodbanks as a result of delays, errors and missing benefit cheques and over-zealously applied benefit sanctions.
Under David Cameron’s premiership, the Government sadly failed to grasp the nettle of Foodbank Britain. At times the Government gave the impression of being in denial about the scale or the problem, that problems with the benefits system had any role in exacerbating the problem or that the Government more generally had any role in seeking to address it. At others, it seemed to simply want to pass the buck to hard pressed teams of volunteers struggling to fill the gap by handing out emergency food parcels.
As a One Nation Prime Minister you can and must do better. You have a fantastic opportunity to reach out to the tens of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of people at the sharp end of foodbank Britain.
Nothing would demonstrate better that your Government is for everyone, than by setting a goal of halving the numbers needing to go to foodbanks by 2020. Nothing would demonstrate your qualities of moral and political leadership, than by committing Government to work with civil society, business and others to develop a coherent plan for achieving this.
You could start by challenging each of your new Cabinet colleagues in charge of a Department which has a stake in the issue – DWP, Health, Education, DEFRA, DCLG – to step up to the plate, and to come up with a plan for how they can help put an end to Foodbank Britain.
You can rest assured that if you give the lead, civil society, faith groups and the countless organisations involved in addressing these issues on the ground across the country, are ready and waiting.
Join with us. Work with us. Together we can end hunger within out shores.
Niall Cooper
Director
Church Action on Poverty
Who should bear the burden of austerity?
What does it mean to be One Nation? In an age of austerity, what does it mean to say “We are all in this together?” To what extent should Government protect the poorest and weakest from further cuts to benefits? Iain Duncan Smith’s shock resignation from the Government last week has put these questions into sharp relief.
Call on the Chancellor to rethink tax cuts for the wealthy!
This week, MPs are debating the budget and considering a serious rethink. If we act fast, we can get them to drop unfair tax cuts for the wealthy, rather than finding new ways to cut benefits for the poorest. Please use our simple e-action to contact your MP here
