Foodbank at school in Theresa May’s seat Kids go hungry in Tory stronghold
A FOODBANK has been set up at a primary school in Theresa May’s constituency to help families struggling to make ends meet under Tory austerity.
Volunteers distributed 160 meals over the half-term holiday to 12 hard-up families identified by teachers as needing help in Maidenhead, Berks – which has the Prime Minister as its MP.
It came as national foodbank charity The Trussell Trust warned the emergency help may not be enough to stop families going hungry this winter due to the Government’s controversial benefits changes.
CHILDREN
The trust delivered a record 586,000 food parcels in the last six months – over 67,000 more than during the same period last year.
More than 200,000 emergency supplies went to children.
The charity says problems with Universal Credit leave families struggling to put food on the table.
The PM has been under mounting pressure over the policy.
MPs including her own back benchers urged her to cut the sixweek waiting time for initial payments, warning it caused claimants “acute financial difficulty”.
Trussell Trust interim chief Mark Ward said: “We’re seeing soaring demand at foodbanks across the UK. Our network is working hard to stop people going hungry.
“But the simple truth is, even with the enormous generosity of our donors and volunteers, we’re concerned that foodbanks could struggle to meet demand this winter if critical changes to benefit delivery are not made now.”
The Maidenhead Foodbank teamed up with Riverside Primary and Nursery School, rated “good” by Ofsted, where bosses were determined to help hungry families. Foodbank trustee Lester Tanner hailed the “great depth of goodwill” in the town, and said the half-term initiative could be scaled up to include more schools to help “a lot more families, particularly during the long summer break”.