w w w . t r u s s e l l t r u s t . o r g
Newslink Restoring dignity and reviving hope in Salisbury, the UK and Bulgaria
Summer/Autumn 2011
'my daughter gave me her paper-round money to buy bread and milk' one foodbank family's struggle to make ends meet The foodbank van discreetly pulls up around the corner from a tidy, suburban house in a Salisbury cul-de-sac. You’d never guess that inside Louise and her family are struggling to put food on the table.
Actor Bill Nighy visited Hammersmith & Fulham foodbank recently and was ‘extremely moved’ and ‘inspired’ after meeting clients and volunteers.
Louise is visibly relieved to receive her foodbox. She tells us her horror story of redundancy, illness and debt. After being made redundant, her husband quickly got a new job but it came with an £18K salary cut. Working two jobs to make ends meet, he was sleeping for two hours per night.
50 percent increase in numbers fed by foodbanks
Soon after, Louise became ill and could not work. The family got into debt and started selling possessions to try to free themselves of creditors. Times got so tough that Louise’s daughter recently gave her £17 paper-round money, saying: ‘Mummy, take this, you can buy some bread and milk.’ For Louise, the foodbank makes a huge difference, she says: ‘I was treated with such dignity. It meant that my children could go to school and be normal. It is so good.’
Over 100 UK foodbanks!
With thousands struggling to put food on the table due to rising food prices and static incomes, the need for foodbanks is greater than ever. In the last year foodbanks have fed 61,468 people across the UK - 50 percent more than the previous year! More churches and communities nationwide are partnering with us to open foodbanks to meet this growing need. Since the beginning of 2011 we’ve launched a new foodbank every week and now have over 100 across the UK! But thousands are going hungry in towns with no foodbanks...
We need your help to realise our vision of a nation where no-one goes hungry >> Could you start a foodbank in your town? Or help fund a Foodbank Regional Development Officer in the North East? Check out national media coverage of the growth of foodbanks at www.trusselltrust.org/media-coverage
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7/18/2011 2:20:43 PM