Independent UK: Britain on the breadline: families join food queue

[marmar]

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



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. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/britain-on-the-breadline-families-join-food-queue-966256.html

[Lyric]

1. "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"

I wish our food banks were like that. The ones here have the most depressing, dilapidated atmosphere, and the staff is largely very jaded and tired. I've seen homeless shelters that looked more welcoming, to be honest.

Oh well. The service itself is what matters. It would just be nice to be able to get help while maintaining at least some small shred of dignity. I shouldn't complain, but alas, I am only human. It's hard to walk into those places--just BEING there is depressing. :(