When your child asks you ‘are we going to starve?’ that’s horrific
LOWRI lost her business when her partner left her.
“When your child’s actually saying to you, ‘are we going to starve, mum? Are we going to be on the street, mum?’ – that’s just horrific,” she says.
Steve, a former security guard, is no longer able to work. “I got injured during a little bit of a scuffle. And I never recovered from it,” he says. “I couldn’t see much of a future. I could only see things getting worse.”
Then there’s Siobhan, who lost her Carer’s Allowance when her disabled dad was denied disability benefits – and found she could no longer even afford sanitary products. “I hadn’t even thought of that,” she says.
These stories, all from people supported by the Trussell Trust, are part of a new video campaign answering the question: ‘Who Needs Foodbanks?’
As former Prime Minister Gordon Brown slams ‘obscene’ levels of destitution in the UK and says the Government is “systematically shredding” the social security system – this question has rarely felt more important.
All the foodbank users we spoke to this week shared his key analysis that because “the overall level of benefits has not risen in line with earnings or inflation in the past decade, payments cannot now cover basic needs”.
Actor, writer, and youth worker Sharron Spice told us: “When you’re on Universal Credit you don’t have enough to cover the essentials. I couldn’t always afford a meal – I was going to bed hungry.”
Sharron, in her mid-30s, added: “Because Universal Credit doesn’t cover the basics, you meet a lot of different people at the foodbank – there are nurses, doctors, firefighters, police. There are foodbanks in school.
“At the youth project I’m involved with, we’re buying milk and bread for people that don’t have it. Everyone is stretched – there are too many fires to put out.”
Data collected from the 1,300strong Trussell Trust foodbank network reveals we are more likely to need a foodbank if we are disabled, a carer, have children, are a lone parent, or are in insecure work.
Three-quarters of people referred to Trussell Trust foodbanks report that they, or at least one member of their household, is disabled, the charity says. Nearly half (47%) of all households experiencing hunger include children under the age of 16. Single adults living with children make up just 3% of the population – but they make up 11% of people facing hunger. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (23%) of unpaid carers face hunger. And one in five people forced to turn to the Trussell Trust are in a working household. Nikki, in her 40s, was working for a major airline when the pandemic hit in 2020. She was furloughed, then made redundant.
She has suffered with illhealth since then and is waiting for an operation
– so has been unable to work. She also lost a son to suicide, and asked not to be identified. With two children under 13, and an older child living at home, she struggles to live on her Disability Benefit. Even with the support of the Trussell Trust, she says she regularly goes without meals to make sure the children are fed.
“We shouldn’t be relying on members of the public to feed us,” says Nikki, who found her local foodbank after Googling how to get help. “It’s amazing there is somewhere to get help – but it’s not OK. We need MPs to listen. We’re meant to be one of the world’s wealthiest nations but lots of people don’t have enough to eat.”
The Trussell Trust has launched a ‘Guarantee Our Essentials’ campaign calling for the Government to ensure the basic rate of Universal Credit at least covers food and bills.
It has been backed by faith leaders and dozens of celebrities including Ed Sheeran, Jodie Whittaker, Liam Gallagher and Dame Emma Thompson. Emma Revie, the Trussell Trust’s chief executive, says we all have a part to play in ending hunger.
“As shown in our latest videos, people are seeking support because of factors beyond their control such as health conditions, having to care for loved ones or because they cannot find secure work that pays enough to live on,” says Emma.
“We hope these videos help more people to better understand the challenges so many people are facing, and how it doesn’t have to be this way. We can end this hardship, for good.”
The Government says: “There are 1.7 million fewer people living in absolute poverty compared to 2010, including 400,000 children.
“But we know people continue to struggle so we are providing record cost of living support worth an average £3,700 per household and are raising benefits this April.
“We know work is the best way to financial security, which is why we are investing billions through our Back to Work Plan, expected to help over a million people, including those with disabilities, into jobs.
“And we are extending our childcare offer while curbing inflation and cutting taxes so people get more of the money they earn.”
Gordon Brown speaks of “a hidden emergency whose forgotten and voiceless victims are the hundreds of thousands of children behind closed doors, in bedrooms without beds, homes without heating and kitchen tables without food, and whose suffering is worsening by the day”.
Sharron was so frustrated by her experiences she wrote a play about it – The Perils of Universal Credit – that she performed in front of Members of Parliament.
“At the Jobcentre they shouted my name out in front of everyone and I just felt humiliated,” she says. “At the foodbank, they welcomed me and showed me kindness.”
‘‘ Everyone is stretched because there are too many fires to put out