New Cross /Lewisham Food Bank Crises as record numbers of working people seek help

Food Bank Trussell Trust Sees Demand Go Up Five-Fold Since Coalition Came To Power

The number of people using food banks has increased five-fold since the coalition came to power, and nearly tripled over the last year, with almost 350,000 people receiving emergency parcels from the Trussell Trust, the largest food bank provider in the UK.
According to figures from the charity, 30% of people using their service over the last year were referred as a result of benefit delays and 15% because of benefit changes.
Overall, the charity helped nearly 100,000 more people than it had anticipated over the last 12 months, and expects to see many more as a result of the government's controversial welfare reforms.


Volunteers put a selection of tinned food together for a client at a depot at St Paul's Church, Brixton Chris Mould, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, told the Huffington Post UK that large numbers of people using food banks were not 'jobless scroungers' but were in work and "not earning enough in an economy in which prices are going up and incomes are flatlining."
He warned that the sheer volume of people needing help was a "wake-up call to the nation" saying "large numbers of people are going hungry and we can’t go on pretending it isnt happening. "
He said the Trussell Trust was expecting even more people using the food banks in coming months, as a raft of the government's welfare reforms come into force.
Claiming the benefit system is still not working, he told the Huffington Post UK: "With the decision to cap benefits, the government has taken a deliberate move to restrict the purchasing power of people vulnerable by definition: they are already eligible for tax credits and income support.
"Many millions of people are having to get by on incomes that are already precarious with no guarantee they can continue to afford food," he added.
"When rents and energy prices are going up and people have to make a decision between keeping a roof over their heads or going hungry, people choose to cut down on food.
"A large number of people are being thrown into crisis because there are problems with the benefit system, partly because there is lots of churn in the workforce and people are on benefits when they weren’t before.
"The system is not working well and large numbers of people are sometimes going weeks without any source of income at all."


Chancellor George Osborne has been asked not to add taxes to food or cut benefits Foodbank recipients are referred by doctors, social workers, schools liaison officers or advisers at the CAB and Jobcentre Plus.
Foodboxes contain at least three days' supply of non-perishable foods such as tinned fruit, vegetables, meat, tea and pasta. Mould said he saw working people coming in to visit food banks on their lunch-breaks, mums coming in to find help feeding their children and people who were unemployed who needed help.
"It's shocking that people are going hungry in 21st century Britain," he said.
In February the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier de Schutter told HuffPost UK that food banks must not be allowed to become a permanent fixture in the UK and Europe, or used by governments to "clear their conscience" and neglect their duty to protect the country's poorest people.
The emergency food banks are now accepted by governments as the norm, which they “absolutely should not be" said de Schutter.
It is the UK’s government’s duty to protect the poorest in society and part of their duty under human rights law, de Schutter said.
Oxfam's Director of UK Poverty, Chris Johnes, said: "These shocking figures show that a perfect storm of spiralling living costs, lack of decent, secure jobs and benefit changes are making it impossible for many people to feed themselves or their families. It's clear there is a massive hole in the safety net when so many more people are being forced to rely on emergency food handouts.
"We are worried this could be just the tip of the iceberg as changes to the welfare system already in the pipeline could rip apart the safety net with devastating consequences for those who rely on it.
"The government cannot ignore this situation any longer. Instead of taking money from people who can't feed themselves, the government should be targeting companies and wealthy individuals who are dodging the taxes which are their fair contribution to our society."
We Care the charity Food Bank set up People before Profit community activists Ray Woolford and Barbara Raymond has expanded to cover not just the whole of Lewisham, but also Greenwich. The New site has a furniture and charitie shop to raise funds, at present Food Bank is paid for by Housemartins estate agents , It also offers a Childrens cloths exchange and an Advice and support centre with Out reach work for People unable to get out.
We Care does not feed the homeless as many groups already do this, we opffer help to any resident that just has no money to buy food, they just need ID and £1 if they have it.
We feed huge numbers who work on low pay. Young people starting work that have welfare stopped and do not get paid until end og the month. disabled people having to restart welfare claims. small traders who due to poor cash flow have no funsds to buy food and pensioners hit with large energy bills leaving them with no money to buy Food.

Donations of all kinds urgently wanted.Our Bank account with the Co Op is We Care ;Sort Code 08 92 99 Account Number 65659328/ £10 helps us feed a family for a month plus pets. also helps to pay Office costs to run much needed advice and support servicvice. we are also seeking to raise money to buy our own Shop so every penny goes to local people in Greenwich & Lewisham in need.

www.lewishamfoodbank.com
Follow Ray on Twitter@Raywoolford.