Posts in '2020'

Back at the start of April, as the full effects of the pandemic were unfolding across the UK, more and more people were needing support from food banks.

In the previous two weeks, there had already been a 81% surge in need for emergency food parcels compared to March 2019 – and as April wore on, this increased need for help would continue, with double the number of families needing help compared to the same month in 2019. (more…)

Singer-songwriter and musician Passenger is supporting the Trussell Trust, a charity that works with a network of more than 1,200 food bank centres across the UK, by donating proceeds from his new album Patchwork to help people struggling due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Food banks have seen a huge surge in need for emergency support during the coronavirus outbreak. The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children. The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year. (more…)

Rory Weal, Policy & Public Affairs Manager

Yesterday the Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his ‘summer statement’. A number of eye-catching policies were announced to support the economy through what even the most optimistic predictions suggest will be the deepest recession in decades.

Interventions to protect jobs and targeted support for the hardest hit sectors featured prominently, as did measures to boost consumer spending in the form of VAT cuts and a 50% voucher discount for eating out in restaurants, cafes and pubs during August.

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A guest blog from our partners Deloitte 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK in March, Hannah Ledwold, a manager in our Risk Analytics practice and Alan Velecky, Senior Manager, Consulting, have been on secondment with the Trussell Trust. The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of over 1,200 food banks to provide emergency food to people who can’t afford the essentials, while working towards a future where everyone has enough money.

The Trussell Trust’s mission is to end the need for food banks by supporting people to address the root causes of poverty. Unfortunately, the need for food banks’ services is now greater than ever. They have seen an 81% increase in food parcels provided to people since the coronavirus caused lockdowns and job losses across the UK. Our two secondees have stepped in to help. (more…)

Garry Lemon, director of policy and external affairs  

Our nation is at a crossroads.

The government has responded to coronavirus with unprecedented measures to support workers, businesses and self-employed people. But the stark reality many of us now face is laid bare in today’s unemployment figures, with hundreds of thousands of people falling off payrolls since March and the largest decreases in the number of self -employed ever recorded.

With the jobs retentions scheme and the self-employed income support scheme set to wind down over the coming months, there is real concern that this is just the start of a tidal wave which will sweep people into poverty and financial hardship.

What decision will we make? We can either choose to build the biggest and best lifeboats to sail people to financial safety – or risk many more people being swept into destitution if we do not invest enough to keep everyone afloat.  (more…)

Garry Lemon, Director of Policy:

Last week food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided shocking evidence of the impact of the economic storm whipped up by the Coronavirus pandemic. Over the course of April there was a huge surge in people needing support, with double the number of families needing help compared to same time last year. It was the busiest month ever at food banks.

It is clear from this immediate and ongoing surge in need for charity food parcels that though we all face the same storm, we are not all in the same boat. Despite welcome measures to boost Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, a huge number of people are still unable to stay afloat.

This simply isn’t right, and must be addressed immediately by government. To that end, the Trussell Trust is working with a coalition of anti-poverty charities to call for a Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme to  ensure we all have enough money to weather the storm. (more…)

Emma Revie, chief executive

In ‘normal’ times, Ruth* works every hour under the sun in catering for an events company to provide for her family. But in mid-March, before the coronavirus pandemic had reached its peak in the UK, she found herself at a food bank collecting an emergency food parcel.

She was already just getting by from one payslip to the next – but when all the events company’s bookings were cancelled and she lost her shifts, it was impossible to make ends meet.

It isn’t right that Ruth was forced to use a food bank to get by. It isn’t right that anyone in our country is forced to use a food bank to get by. Each one of us deserves the dignity of having enough money to buy the essentials we need for ourselves and our families. (more…)

• The Trussell Trust reports a soaring  89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children
• The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year
• Food banks in the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) report a 175% increase in need for the same period
• A coalition of charities, including Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), The Children’s Society, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), StepChange and Turn2us, is calling for funding for local authorities in England to ensure grants are quickly distributed to help people stay afloat as part of a temporary Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme

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The last few weeks have been especially busy for food banks in the Trussell Trust network as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. In the first two weeks of the pandemic, food banks in our network distributed a shocking 6,250 emergency food parcels every day, with 3,000 of these each day provided for children.

This isn’t right. As we work towards a future where everyone can afford their own food, it’s vital that our network continues to provide this essential community service.

And it’s volunteers that make this service possible. (more…)

During the last two weeks of March, food banks in our network reported a shocking 81% increase in need compared to the same period last year – that’s 6,250 food parcels each day, with 3,000 provided for children.

This isn’t right. With a coalition of anti-poverty charities, we’re calling on the government to create a Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme – and in the past fortnight over 2,000 of you have emailed your MP to let them know you agree.

This amazing support is making a real difference, and it’s vital that we don’t stop now.

We’re all facing the same storm, but we aren’t all in the same boat. (more…)