STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01am WEDNESDAY 22/04/2015 Scottish Foodbank Use Exceeds 100,000 for first time o Charity says 117,689 people – including 36,114 children – use Scottish foodbanks o UK figure exceeds 1 million people – including almost 400,000 children – for the first time o We must face the reality of hunger and listen to the experiences of people in need The Trussell Trust can reveal that, in the 2014/15 financial year, 117,689 people – including 36,114 children – received a three day supply of nutritionally balanced emergency food from a Trussell Trust foodbank in Scotland. The new figures show a 65% increase, equivalent to two-thirds, on those from the previous year and reveal that almost one third of those using Trussell Trust foodbanks in Scotland are children. The UK figure broke through 1 million for the first year.
Transcript
STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01am WEDNESDAY 22/04/2015
Scottish Foodbank Use Exceeds 100,000 for first time
o Charity says 117,689 people – including 36,114 children – use Scottish foodbankso UK figure exceeds 1 million people – including almost 400,000 children – for the first timeo We must face the reality of hunger and listen to the experiences of people in need
The Trussell Trust can reveal that, in the 2014/15 financial year, 117,689 people – including 36,114 children – received a three day supply of nutritionally balanced emergency food from a Trussell Trust foodbank in Scotland. The new figures show a 65% increase, equivalent to two-thirds, on those from the previous year and reveal that almost one third of those using Trussell Trust foodbanks in Scotland are children. The UK figure broke through 1 million for the first year.
In the financial year 2014/15, 33,408 (28%) people used a Trussell Trust foodbank in Scotland due to a benefit delay, 24,609 (21%) people due to low income and 20,387 (17%) due to a benefit change. Compared to the previous year, the percentage of people referred due to a benefit delay remains unchanged, but there is a 2% increase in referrals due to low income and a 2% decrease in referrals due to a benefit change. Low income shows the biggest numerical rise as 24,609 people were referred in 2014/15 compared with 13,552 in 2013/14 – an increase of over 80%.
“Despite welcome signs of economic recovery, hunger continues to affect significant numbers of men, women and children in Scotland. The full extent of the problem could well be much wider as The Trussell Trust figures do not include people who are helped by other food charities or those who feel too ashamed to seek help.
Trussell Trust foodbanks are increasingly hosting additional services like debt counselling and welfare advice at our foodbanks, which is helping more people out of crisis. The latest figures highlight how
vital it is that we all work to prevent and relieve hunger in the United Kingdom. It is absolutely crucial that we listen to the challenges of those using foodbanks to truly understand the nature of the challenges people face. The experiences of those who experience hunger is the key to the finding a solution.”
Ewan Gurr, Scotland Network Manager - The Trussell Trust
Watch Suzanne's story in full here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZf_sPZj_-g
"I had to stop breastfeeding [my son], because I just wasn't producing enough milk and that was due to me not having enough calorific intake. That was devastating for me on top of the fact that I was struggling to juggle everything that I felt I was letting them down as well."
"We came across The Trussell Trust these people actually wanted to hear what was going on in our lives and wanted to help us, not just with the food but the emotional support they gave us too. I couldn't imagine what we would have done [without the foodbank]."
Watch Dave's story in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ypLbt_CWI
"It was quite a lengthy period that I had to wait for my benefits and I had no money, nobody to turn to. I had no family up here. No friends as such. They were probably in the same position as me.
I am used to working;I've worked all my days. To have to come and ask somebody for food was not very nice. I did not want to come, to be honest, but I knew I needed food so I came to the door [of the foodbank] really wary, wondering what was going to happen…”
South Lanarkshire 3,242 1,490 4,722West Lothian 2,897 1,291 4,188
Overall Total 81,575 36,114 117,689
The Trussell Trust has no foodbank presence in Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Shetland Islands, Stirling or West Dunbartonshire.Other local authorities not included refer to foodbank either in the phase of launching or where there has been difficulty uploading data.
ABOUT THE TRUSSELL TRUST AND THE USE OF STATISTICS
In 2011, there was one foodbank in Scotland operating in partnership with The Trussell Trust. As of April 2015, there are 50 Trussell Trust foodbanks in 27 Scottish local authorities. Between 2011 and 2013, Scotland experienced faster growth in the number of foodbanks launching with The Trussell Trust than any other region in the United Kingdom.
117,689 people (81,575 adults and 36,114 children) received a three day supply of emergency food from The Trussell Trust foodbanks in Scotland between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015 – a 65% increase on the previous financial year. In the 2013/14 financial year, 71,428 people – including 22,387 children received assistance from The Trussell Trust foodbanks in Scotland – a 400% increase on the previous year.
The Trussell Trust foodbanks in Scotland were responsible for 10.85% of the overall emergency food provision in the United Kingdom, which is beyond the proportion of its 8.2% share of the UK population. 1,084,604 people (687,607 adults and 396,997 children) received a three day supply of emergency food from The Trussell Trust foodbanks in the United Kingdom between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.
The three main reasons driving people to use Scottish foodbanks are benefit delays (28%), low income (21%) and benefit changes (17%). A Scottish Government-commissioned report published in December 2013 said: “Providers who participated in the study were in agreement that welfare reform, benefit delays, benefit sanctions and falling incomes have been the main factors driving the recent trend observed of increased demand for food aid.”1
The same report, like a UK Government-commissioned report published in February 2014, questioned assertions that the growing demand for emergency food is supply-led saying: “The long history of food aid in the UK, albeit possibly more ad hoc and less publically visible, suggests that need for such immediate, practical help has existed for some time. Anecdotally this help has been demand driven.”2
The Trussell Trust runs a social franchise that partners with churches and communities to open foodbanks and has launched over 420 foodbanks which operate over 1,200 food distribution centres in the United Kingdom. Trussell Trust foodbanks provide a minimum three day supply of nutritionally balanced food to people in crisis. People are also signposted to other agencies and services able to help resolve the underlying cause of the crisis.
The Trussell Trust statistics are collected using an online data collection system into which foodbanks enter the data from each foodbank voucher. The system records the number of adults and children given a three day supply of nutritionally balanced emergency food. Trussell Trust figures have always been reported in this way.
We cannot measure unique users on a national scale, but recent evidence collected from a sample of UK foodbanks indicates that over 65% of foodbank users were only helped once over a six month period, and that only 7.5% needed four or more vouchers.
In April 2014, The Big Lottery Fund Scotland awarded The Trussell Trust £944,708 to enable the organisation to employ a team of dedicated staff who will provide training, support and guidance to new and existing foodbanks across the country. Over five years the award to The Trussell Trust is expected to support around 400,000 people across the country who will struggle with issues such as hunger, poverty and unemployment.
Over 90 percent of food given out by Trussell Trust foodbanks is donated by the public and an estimated 30,000 people volunteered with a Trussell Trust UK foodbank in 2013-14.
1 Overview of Food Aid Provision in Scotland, Scottish Government - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00440458.pdf2 Household Food Security in the United Kingdom: A Review of Food Aid, UK Government - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283071/household-food-security-uk-140219.pdf
The Trussell Trust has spokespeople, based in foodbanks, and available for interview in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. Please contact Lucy Keen to make arrangements.
For Scotland-based media enquiries regarding The Trussell Trust, please contactScotland Press Officer Lucy Keen:Mobile: 07789 642 727 / Office: 01382 250063 / E-Mail: [email protected]
For Scotland-based comment from The Trussell Trust, please contactScotland Network Manager Ewan Gurr:Mobile: 07903 241 473 / Office: 01382 250063/ E-Mail: [email protected]
For UK-based media enquiries regarding the Trussell Trust, please contact Head of Media and External Affairs Molly Hodson: Telephone: 0203 745 5979 / E-Mail: [email protected]
