Britain on the breadline: families join food queue

[BASEL]

Britain on the breadline: families join food queue

More and more working people are relying on charity to feed their families.

By Rachel Shields
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Volunteer Harry Hastings- Smith, 89, at the Trussell Trust food bank in Salisbury, where those in need can exchange vouchers for food

JOHN LAWRENCE

Volunteer Harry Hastings- Smith, 89, at the Trussell Trust food bank in Salisbury, where those in need can exchange vouchers for food



The woman stands in a snaking queue, waiting stoically for a food parcel. With this she can make it through the week, feed her husband, herself and her five children. Maybe it will be gone after a few days, but it's a lifeline. And it's not like her family are afraid of work: her husband has a full-time job. It could be a scene from the Third World. It's not. It happened in England. Last week.

The woman's name is Sarah and she lives in Salisbury. She is struggling to feed her family in the face of rocketing bills for food, heating, light, clothes, fuel and housing. These are not benefits scroungers or members of the underclass. They are ordinary working people, but their work doesn't pay enough to meet their needs. And every week there are more of them.

The next six weeks will see six new food banks open in Plymouth, Exeter, Lincoln, Ebbw Vale, Okehampton and Haverhill. Their rapid growth is testament to the rising levels of need charities have seen in the past few months. Set up by a Christian charity, the Trussell Trust, in 2004, the food banks are staffed by volunteers from nearby businesses. They are supplied entirely by donations.

Salisbury's food bank, located in Bemerton Heath, the most deprived ward in Wiltshire, is the busiest in the UK. "Most people who come in here have jobs," said Heather Oliver, a volunteer. "They are care workers, waitresses, childminders, the self-employed ... people on low-wage jobs who just can't afford to get by."

The food bank looks like an ordinary café. The brightly coloured room is warm, full of people clutching cups of tea as they wait for food parcels.

As they queued up last week, people avoided catching each other's eyes. There is no shame in what they are doing, but they feel it anyway. "It could be embarrassing for people to take food parcels, but I feel I don't have any choice," said Salena Hannah, 40, a single mother of four. "Sometimes we just have nothing. My health visitor gave me a voucher for the food bank. There is lots of really nutritious food in the parcel – pasta, porridge oats and tinned fruit – and it allows me to feed my daughter healthy food."

Food banks distribute vouchers to key people in the area: headteachers, doctors, health workers and social workers are all able to give out food vouchers to those in need. The voucher can then be taken to the local food bank and exchanged for three days' worth of food, the parcel placed in ordinary supermarket carrier bags to reduce the social stigma that many people feel at accepting charity.

"People don't want to admit when life is imploding," said Jeremy Ravn of the Trussell Trust. "Many of the people who come to us appear wealthy – some of them have their own businesses – and they don't like to make it known that it is a choice between paying the rent and feeding the kids."

The Government only offers food aid to pregnant women and those with children up to four years, who receive vouchers for £2.80 each week towards fruit, vegetables, milk or infant formula. That leaves a gap that working families can fall into. "This initiative complements the system of state benefits, which, with the best will in the world, is not designed to deliver basic food to hungry mouths," said Robert Key, MP for Salisbury.

Other UK charities are now considering extending their food provisions to people in crisis. The Salvation Army is currently reviewing its luncheon clubs, food parcels, meal runs and drop-in services, while the British Red Cross is also monitoring rising levels of need across the UK. "We are looking at what support we might be able to provide to individuals experiencing difficulty, but it is unlikely that we could provide food parcels over a long period," said Margaret Lally, director of UK service development at the British Red Cross.

And while these reviews go on, a growing number of people hide their food parcels in supermarket carrier bags. "It is crucial," said Ms Hannah. "I don't know how I would have managed if I had been in an area that didn't have a food bank."

'When my doctor offered me the voucher, it was a real godsend'

Julie Richards, 50

"When the food bank first opened, I did volunteer work for them and donated food when I had some spare. I couldn't have imagined that I'd ever need their help. I have two children and had a stressful job in the NHS, working in community children's health. When I found it too much, I gave up my job to work in the local supermarket. Sadly I was made redundant six months later – it was a last-in, first-out thing. Being suddenly out of work, it has been difficult to manage. Food prices have gone up – prices of everything have gone up. When I was offered the food parcel – my doctor gave me a voucher for one – it was a real godsend. It was like a windfall, a little moment of magic. I think that over the next few months lots more people are going to need it. With winter coming, bills are going up and it is getting harder. The one thing that people will go without is food. You can only reduce your bills so much, but you can stop eating."

There was a time when I didn’t have any money for food

Trevor Feltham, 48

"I was working when I had an accident at work and was off sick. I got better and got another job, but there was a delay with my sick pay and there was a time when I didn't have any money to buy food. I don't know what I would have done without the food bank. I collect rubbish for the council, and my wages are enough money for me, but there are blokes I work with who have just had babies and who are struggling to cope with the rising bills. Some of them have got three kids, new babies, and wives who aren't working because they are looking after the young children, and I know they are using the food bank. There are a lot of people who are going to need it over the next few months."