Blog

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.

In the last few months, we’ve all been hit by something outside our control. As the coronavirus pandemic has swept in, its impact has been felt by all of us, in many different ways.

More and more of us are facing financial insecurity, a loss of control, an uncertainty over what our futures might look like.

But while we’re all being hit by the same storm, we’re not all in the same boat. For some, this sweeping lack of control is new and unsettling. For some, this will be a one-off occurrence from which they’ll recover. But for people living in poverty, this feeling isn’t new. It’s all too familiar.

Feeling trapped, facing limited options, and being let down by systems designed to provide support is the norm for millions of people every day.

In early April, Centrica and British Gas began working with the Trussell Trust to support food banks during the current coronavirus pandemic. As British Gas engineers and colleagues are currently only attending emergency and essential visits in these challenging times and a number of staff are on furlough, the company has encouraged its employees to volunteer with the Trussell Trust and offer support to food banks. You can find out more about the partnership here.

Since then, thousands of British Gas and Centrica employees have got involved and are making a real difference in their local communities by helping food banks deliver emergency supplies to people’s homes, collect and transport food donations, and sort food safely in food bank warehouses. Employees are also embracing this role at home, setting up home donation stations, buying donations for food banks when doing their own shopping, raising funds and spreading the word on social media about the work of the Trussell Trust.

In the past few weeks, a lot has changed. As the coronavirus outbreak develops, we’re all adjusting to new ways of working and living, and many of us are dealing with difficult and tragic situations. The pandemic has upended our lives and things are shifting day by day.

And yet, as we adjust to these changes, there are things we can learn from what is happening. There are things we can find comfort in. There are things we can draw hope from.

As the coronavirus outbreak develops, we’ve all got lots to think about: from supporting elderly relatives or friends to looking after our own health, from financial concerns to restrictions on our daily movement. We’re adjusting to huge changes in our day-to-day lives as we work to deal with this ‘new normal’ and the way we talk about poverty and hunger is probably low on many people’s lists of priorities. But it shouldn’t be.

The way we talk about things matters – even during a pandemic. Especially during a pandemic. The way we talk defines how we think about things and what we choose to do about them. As our news and timelines are dominated by statistics and analysis of the outbreak, it’s more important than ever that we think in new and innovative ways to meet the challenges we’re being presented with and pull together as a nation to react with compassion.

As the coronavirus outbreak develops, it can be difficult to know where to turn for support. We want to help you find the information you need and answer your questions so that you understand your options and what you can do.

If you have any questions we haven’t answered here, please let us know via email or social media so we can help you.

Q: What’s going on at food banks right now? Are they running out of donations? Are they closing?

Food banks are working hard to continue supporting their communities safely. Many have changed how they operate and are looking at new, innovative ways to distribute food to people in financial crisis safely during this time. We’re working closely with each and every food bank in our network to make sure that wherever possible they can continue to support people in crisis in their local communities.

A blog post by
Garry Lemon
Director of Policy & Research

This is not just a health crisis we face. It is also an economic one. The necessary measures we’re all taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus have caused an economic shock that, early signs show, has led to a steep increase in unemployment and drop in incomes.

In response, and to the government’s great credit, a series of measures have been brought in at significant speed and scale. The Coronavirus Jobs Retention scheme aims to keep companies running and people employed and paid. Universal Credit has been strengthened with more money in the standard rate, alongside an increase in the Local Housing Allowance.

National governments with devolved powers are also bringing in extra protection, most notably £45 million has been put into the Scottish Welfare Fund so that local councils can get money to those that need it most.

A key part of the Fight Hunger Create Change partnership between Asda, the Trussell Trust and FareShare is a grants programme for food banks in our network, providing crucial additional resources to increase the breadth of services they can offer people to help prevent someone needing a food bank again in the future.

This month we are collectively marking our two-year anniversary of the partnership and sharing stories of the difference it has made to people’s lives. A year on from receiving their grant funding, Colchester Foodbank has been able to achieve everything it had planned over three years. Michael Beckett, who is the chief officer at the food bank, explains what has been made possible…

A blog post by
Samantha Stapley
Chief Operations Officer

It is unacceptable that anyone in our country is forced to turn to a food bank. We’re working hard to reach a future where everyone has enough money to buy their own food, but we know we can’t get there on our own.

That’s why this week we’re marking the second year of our three-year Fight Hunger Create Change partnership with Asda and FareShare, and looking back at our work together so far.

A blog post by
Emma Greenwood
Area Manager for South West England

One of the greatest privileges of my job is spending time with our amazing food bank teams. Living, breathing, walking embodiments of our key values of community, compassion, dignity and justice.

I spent yesterday morning with a small group of project managers. We were discussing what their roles entailed – the list of responsibilities went on and on and on.