"Food banks across the UK are experiencing exceptionally large demand as nationwide benefit cuts take effect. Britain’s largest food aid charity says food requests have doubled this summer – and it’s blaming the recent government welfare reforms." "According to the charity, parents whose children get free school lunches during term time are struggling the most, as they now have to find money for an extra meal every day." "Between April 1 and June 30, exactly 152,154 people received three days’ worth of emergency food – this figure is three times higher than the number of people who needed the same assistance last year." "According to figures from the Trussle Trust, almost 350,000 people across the UK received food aid from the organization in 2012. That was in addition to assistance offered from smaller food aid charities which do not publish regular data of how many people they help." But a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions was adamant that welfare reforms were not to blame. “The benefits system helps millions of people who are on low incomes or unemployed and there is no evidence that welfare reforms are linked to increased use of food banks,” the spokesman insisted.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 02:16:13 +0000
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