Gower AM praises work of local foodbanks - but we shouldn’t need them

The anti-poverty charity, the Trussell Trust, has produced its mid-year foodbank statistics from April to September.

They show that across UK, 658,048 three day emergency food supplies were provided by the Trussell Trust Foodbank for people facing crisis, with 48,571 being supplied in Wales. In Wales this shows a concerning rise of 13% as compared to the same period last year.

In Gower alone, 3,258 three day emergency food supplies were provided in these last six months to people in crisis, with 1,138 of which were for children.

Rebecca Evans AM, Assembly Member for Gower, said: “The Trussell Trust statistics are a stark reminder of how many people in Gower and across Wales are still very much in need of foodbanks - and they reveal that the number is continuing to grow. These facts are a shocking indictment of the UK Government’s austerity agenda.”

The top four reasons for referral to a foodbank in The Trussell Trust network in April – September 2018 were ‘low income –  benefits, not earning’, ‘benefit delay’, ‘benefit change’ and ‘debt’. 

Rebecca Evans said: “This raises further questions about the chaos of the rolling out of Universal Credit, and the concern of how it will negatively affect claimants over the winter months and beyond. The Welsh Government has repeatedly called for a halt to the process in order for the numerous problems to be addressed.

“Once again, it's the people who have the least who are being hit the hardest.
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“There should be no need for anyone to have to rely on foodbanks, but in these difficult times I am very grateful that they are there to help. I wholeheartedly thank the many volunteers who, week in week out, give of their time and resources to meet the needs of our communities."