Prof Green’s horror over UK hunger
PLEA Prof Green at foodbank RAPPER Professor Green has spoken of his anguish after seeing how many people rely on emergency help at his local foodbank.
The star hit out as the Daily Mirror launched its annual Christmas appeal amid fears more people than ever will need help over the festive period.
It will support the Trussell Trust whose foodbanks expect to provide half a million meals to children over Christmas.
Professor Green, 35, spoke after visiting the foodbank in Lewisham, South East London. He said: “It was heartbreaking to speak to some of the people who have had to turn to foodbanks.
“For so many it only takes one bit of bad luck – an unexpected expense, a health issue or a delay in benefits to bring everything tumbling down.”
Some 98% of Britons are unaware of the extent of UK poverty and hunger.
Research by the Trussell Trust – the country’s largest provider of foodbanks has found families need its help more in December than at any other time in the year.
So we are asking readers to back our End Hunger, Feed a Family Christmas appeal for the charity.
It needs money to pay for emergency food, help with storage costs and petrol for vans to deliver parcels.
It is also seeking more volunteers to cope with the spiralling demand. million people now living in poverty in the UK, according to the report million working-age adults in poverty, plus 1.9million pensioners UK’s ranking for poverty among the 38 nations in the OECD
And Child Poverty Action Group’s Alison Garnham urged the Government to act on the “undeniable” evidence. She said: “The case for ending the freeze on benefits and bringing them back in line with inflation has cross-party support. If we are concerned with children’s life chances, now is the time to do this.”
The JRF’s stark findings come as the Mirror launches its End Hunger, Feed a Family Christmas appeal to aid foodbanks provider the Trussell Trust.
A family is classed as being in “relative poverty” if income is less than 60% of the median after housing costs, income tax, council tax and other deductions. For a couple with two children, this is £413 a week. For a single parent with two kids it is £306 and for a single person with no kids it is £148.
But the Government uses “absolute poverty”, which fixes the line as 60% of median income in 2010/11 and only increases it in line with inflation – not average incomes. The JRF’s Helen Barnard said this is “rather outdated”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We disagree with this report and there are now one million fewer people living in absolute poverty since 2010, including 300,000 children.”
It is difficult to compare poverty rates between countries but a study ranked us 19th for poverty out of the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members.