Posts in '2016'

Over 20,000 people will volunteer this weekend with their local foodbank in Tesco stores for part of the Neighbourhood Food Collection. They’re giving up their time to help raise awareness of poverty in their community and collect essential items, so when local people in crisis are referred, the foodbank is able to offer that vital help.

We asked foodbank managers across the UK whether they could nominate any particularly brilliant ‘Neighbourhood Food Collection Superstars’ and we’re thrilled with the positive response – there are a lot of fantastic volunteers out there this weekend! Here are just a few of their stories…

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The Trussell Trust is delighted to announce that it has taken the Overall Award at this year’s Charity Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious awards scheme in the charity sector.

As well as winning the top prize in the Social Care and Welfare category, The Trussell Trust was chosen as the Overall Winner at this year’s ceremony for its nationwide network of more than 400 foodbanks, which provided over 1.1 million three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis last year.

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Over 40,000 people volunteered with Trussell Trust projects last year and this week is all about thanking them. We could not operate without generous people giving up their time; let us introduce you to a few of them and find out why they enjoy volunteering with us…

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Every last Friday of the next seven months will see Trussell Trust foodbank volunteers based at selected Network Rail managed stations from 7am – 7pm to raise awareness of, and funds for, vital work tackling hunger.

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Being part of The Trussell Trust Foodbank Network means the chance to attend our foodbank conference every year. It’s always a great day as foodbanks come together to be inspired, learn from and encourage one another, with this year’s conference including a keynote speech from Martin Lewis. Here’s what happened…

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Imagine you’re a mum living in the capital, juggling a new job with two young children.  For the last few weeks your husband hasn’t been given many hours by the company he works for, and it’s going to be a couple of weeks until you’re paid. While you’re waiting for that first pay packet, your husband’s limited hours alone just won’t cover the cost of bringing up a young family.

Something’s got to give.

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Tackling poverty and hunger in London will be a pressing challenge for whoever is elected on 5 May.  Latest figures published by The Trussell Trust show a 5 per cent rise in foodbank use in the capital, with 110,000 three-day emergency food supplies given to people in crisis in the last year. Increasingly food banks are providing additional services that help people break out of crisis faster, and reduce the need for repeat referrals.  As one visitor to a food bank said:

“You’re only two missed pay checks away from being in poverty. Just five minutes to breathe can really make all the difference, that’s why food banks are such a lifeline.”

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“I can’t remember the last time we had a square meal as a family. I’ll make something for the kids and pretend I’m eating later, because I don’t want them to know I go without so they don’t have to. It’s hard to get even basic food. It’s making a decision between that and something else – do you put that £5 in the electric or gas because it’ll be freezing otherwise, or put it into food so the kids can eat?”

For Anna, juggling the care of her severely autistic son and dealing with depression after escaping an abusive relationship is a daily struggle. And it’s made so much worse because she has little to live on. She is just one of thousands of people who have been referred to a foodbank in the last year, and when she arrived and sat down with a cup of tea to talk to the volunteers, it became clear food wasn’t the only thing she was struggling to afford. 

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1,109,309.

That’s the amount of three-day emergency food supplies our network of 424 foodbanks gave out to people in crisis during 2015/16, with 415,866 of those having gone to children.

“One million three-day food supplies given out by our foodbanks every year is one million too many. This must not become the new normal. We need to listen to the experiences of people facing hunger and poverty, and work to find solutions to this problem together.” – CEO, David McAuley

It’s a 2% increase on our foodbank figures released this time last year, when we first crossed the one million mark. And it’s happened again.

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• Trussell Trust says that one million three day food supplies a year must not become the new normal
• New University of Hull data mapping suggests important emergent correlation between foodbank use and areas with high numbers of people who are in skilled manual work or unable to work due to long term illness or disability
• Main drivers of foodbank usage remain benefit problems and low income

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