Food banks: Pressures on the system
What do we know about food banks? Food banks provide emergency food for people who don't have a lot of money and they struggle to buy enough food for themselves or their family.
Winter is coming and we all know rising costs hurt everyone and that it hurts the poorer families even more as they struggle to cope with their day-to-day activities. A big food bank I know is in the Newcastle West End - it opened in 2013 as many people (volunteers) were concerned about the wellbeing of people who struggle financially. The only way to use a food bank is if you receive a referral from social services , housing support and in rare conditions the citizens advice bureau.
Tens of thousands of volunteers nationally have racked up an astonishing four million hours a year stocktaking, picking up and distributing food and fundraising. In my opinion, food banks are the most amazing of things, it helps the people who are struggling with money and it does make me feel as though I don't have to lose faith in all of humanity even if we have a lot of wars and death. this right here is what we should be like helping the unfortunate as much as possible and helping them out of the poor status.
This year we saw the new type of benefits - Universal Credit. GREAT! Or is it. You see every claimant has to wait a period of 6 days before they receive the actual payment which means people could be left without enough food an in extreme circumstances it could mean they get kicked out of their home because they cant pay the mortgage. What makes it worse is that the food that the food banks get are from the public, and since the prices are rising it makes it harder for the public to give food out as they will be struggling too.
The food banks are struggling as well in terms of the distribution centres not getting enough money to send the food around the country to the banks. They have done a crowdfunding appeal and they have don an auction. Football matches are getting a growing number of donations as a stall at each Newcastle United home games now regularly gathers more than a tonne of tinned and packeted food and up to £1,500 in cash. which is great as it means more people are become wary about the poverty there is in the UK. From this I have learned that people are starting to take care of others even if they are just giving a little bit of money or food.
The Trussels Trust network, which covers two-thirds of distribution areas, saw a 6.64 per cent average rise in referrals for emergency food in 2016/17, but a 16.85 per cent increase in the universal credit rollout area. This is bad as it means that a lot more people are being told to go to food banks however the food banks are struggling therefore its making it harder for people who are in need to get food as more people are in need of the help.
The West End food bank, distributing five tonnes of food a week, has the sort of warehouses many others lack, and its corporate connections include Greggs, baker Warburtons, Marriott Hotels and UK Land Estates. This is good as it means large businesses are trying to help out the food banks as much as possible. This could potentially mean that more people who are in need of help, get food as well as drinks to sustain life in their family.
At one of the West End food bank’s centres, a former youth club hut, David, a 55-year-old ex-serviceman with post traumatic stress problems, explained he has £35 a fortnight to live on after utility and rent bills. Without the food bank’s help he would probably, he said, have been on the streets. “If it hadn’t been for this I wouldn’t have been able to cope as a single person.”
From this you can see food banks need to be around as they help people with and without families and therefore they are one of the most important factors in today's modern society.
Overall, this article has made me think more about the effects of benefits and how sometimes benefits aren't enough for people, especially families, to survive on.
Winter is coming and we all know rising costs hurt everyone and that it hurts the poorer families even more as they struggle to cope with their day-to-day activities. A big food bank I know is in the Newcastle West End - it opened in 2013 as many people (volunteers) were concerned about the wellbeing of people who struggle financially. The only way to use a food bank is if you receive a referral from social services , housing support and in rare conditions the citizens advice bureau.
Tens of thousands of volunteers nationally have racked up an astonishing four million hours a year stocktaking, picking up and distributing food and fundraising. In my opinion, food banks are the most amazing of things, it helps the people who are struggling with money and it does make me feel as though I don't have to lose faith in all of humanity even if we have a lot of wars and death. this right here is what we should be like helping the unfortunate as much as possible and helping them out of the poor status.
This year we saw the new type of benefits - Universal Credit. GREAT! Or is it. You see every claimant has to wait a period of 6 days before they receive the actual payment which means people could be left without enough food an in extreme circumstances it could mean they get kicked out of their home because they cant pay the mortgage. What makes it worse is that the food that the food banks get are from the public, and since the prices are rising it makes it harder for the public to give food out as they will be struggling too.
The food banks are struggling as well in terms of the distribution centres not getting enough money to send the food around the country to the banks. They have done a crowdfunding appeal and they have don an auction. Football matches are getting a growing number of donations as a stall at each Newcastle United home games now regularly gathers more than a tonne of tinned and packeted food and up to £1,500 in cash. which is great as it means more people are become wary about the poverty there is in the UK. From this I have learned that people are starting to take care of others even if they are just giving a little bit of money or food.
The Trussels Trust network, which covers two-thirds of distribution areas, saw a 6.64 per cent average rise in referrals for emergency food in 2016/17, but a 16.85 per cent increase in the universal credit rollout area. This is bad as it means that a lot more people are being told to go to food banks however the food banks are struggling therefore its making it harder for people who are in need to get food as more people are in need of the help.
The West End food bank, distributing five tonnes of food a week, has the sort of warehouses many others lack, and its corporate connections include Greggs, baker Warburtons, Marriott Hotels and UK Land Estates. This is good as it means large businesses are trying to help out the food banks as much as possible. This could potentially mean that more people who are in need of help, get food as well as drinks to sustain life in their family.
At one of the West End food bank’s centres, a former youth club hut, David, a 55-year-old ex-serviceman with post traumatic stress problems, explained he has £35 a fortnight to live on after utility and rent bills. Without the food bank’s help he would probably, he said, have been on the streets. “If it hadn’t been for this I wouldn’t have been able to cope as a single person.”
From this you can see food banks need to be around as they help people with and without families and therefore they are one of the most important factors in today's modern society.
Overall, this article has made me think more about the effects of benefits and how sometimes benefits aren't enough for people, especially families, to survive on.
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