Food poverty crisis deepens as more than 150 St Helens people access emergency supplies

10:20am Thursday 14th February 2013 in News

JANICE Macleod and Ken Barton of St Helens Foodbank JANICE Macleod and Ken Barton of St Helens Foodbank

MORE than 150 poverty-stricken people have been given parcels of groceries in the three months since the St Helens Foodbank launched, the Star has learned.

And managers there believe hundreds more will have to be donated to hard-up families when benefit changes – including the ‘bedroom tax and council tax changes - kick in over the next few months.

Heartbreaking stories of the desperate plight faced by some people were shared with the Star this week. They include how one mother walked from Newton-le-Willows to St Helens to access emergency food supplies for her family.

In another case, a single person on low income was referred to the foodbank after going a week without eating.

Benefit changes, low income, delayed wages, sickness are all highlighted as other reasons why families have had to turn for help.

More than a third of those who have been given food parcels are children.

Marie Rimmer, leader of St Helens Council, has spoke previously about her concerns children from poor families are going to school without breakfast because money is so tight.

Worryingly, the foodbank charity the Trussell Trust, which is behind the St Helens project, has pointed to research that estimates one in ten people in the north west have suffered from some form of food poverty in the last 12 months.

It suggests five per cent of people are skipping meals and four per cent are relying on friends or family for food.

Many parents are also going without food to feed their children.

However, the positive news is the remarkable generosity that has enabled the foodbanks to become well stocked.

More than 11,100 kg of food has been donated since the St Helens branch was established and approaching a fifth of that has been distributed.

Appeals with local schools and churches, in particular harvest festivals, donations from businesses and a collection by the supermarket Tesco have helped pull in stocks.

So how does St Helens Foodbank operate?

The Foodbank receives food donations. Food is then given to local families and individuals already being supported by a local agency.
Families and individuals who may need emergency food parcels are given a voucher to take to one of two hubs in the town to collect their food.
TO donate food items, call Janice on 01744 26414

Comments(19)

Johnboi says...
3:12pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Betcha they still had money for their ciggies and vodka when B&M opened at 9am.

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Sankey says...
4:13pm Thu 14 Feb 13

One person did not eat for a week?

The benefit changes are not that significant what I don't understand is what has changed that people are now apparently starving to death in Britain.

You don't eat for a week your body starts to shut down.

I know times are very tough they are for me. But I have enough to eat.

Something is not right here and could it be this is being overblown to get at the government? Marie Rimmer quoted and dave watts speaking out in parliament. Have they really nothing better to do like sorting out the mess that is St. Helens ?

I don't wish to be unkind and I know times are tough. And the lady from Newton walking to St. Helens how any more times will that be trotted out?

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Lottylee says...
5:15pm Thu 14 Feb 13

I think you are both being a little unkind to these people who are using the food bank. The majority of them are not benefit scroungers but people who have suddenly lost their main source of income. Claiming for job seekers allowance after you have lost your job is not as easy as it sounds. It can take weeks before you get a decision about your claim so people are out on a limb if they have no other family to help or haven't been in the lucky position of receiving a redundancy package. These people are in genuine need and dont deserve your discrimination, it certainly isnt just a problem in St.Helens but a country wide issue.

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Sankey says...
5:24pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Lottylee wrote:
I think you are both being a little unkind to these people who are using the food bank. The majority of them are not benefit scroungers but people who have suddenly lost their main source of income. Claiming for job seekers allowance after you have lost your job is not as easy as it sounds. It can take weeks before you get a decision about your claim so people are out on a limb if they have no other family to help or haven't been in the lucky position of receiving a redundancy package. These people are in genuine need and dont deserve your discrimination, it certainly isnt just a problem in St.Helens but a country wide issue.
I don't doubt that lotte and I am in that position myself. Luckily I had a small bit of savings before i lost my job that tied me over and it maybe some have over stretched. So I don't blame anyone but its hard not to conclude there is some political capital beng made out of those down on their luck by the usual suspects Rimmer and watts. There is nothing new here we have had this situation since 2008.

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Sankey says...
8:28pm Thu 14 Feb 13

What I don't understand is what has changed ? We have had an awful recession since 2008. The delay in getting your benefits has always been there. The cut in benefits is only marginal and in any case only just happened so impact has not yet occurred. So why now suddenly are we seeing all this in the St. Helens press? I am not having a go or lightening the problem for people who have to unfortunately use these I simply don't understand what has changed.

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pitbullboxing says...
10:04pm Thu 14 Feb 13

I feel for these people. But what needs to be said is that we are in this position because of Labour , Labour would be making the same cuts and have already said they will not reverse any of said cuts. It's a shame Rammer and witts didn't feel as passionately about the needy before they got behind mad Tony and blew the hell out of the poor Afghan and Iraqi lowly. I wish them to be struck dumb.

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Sankey says...
10:21pm Thu 14 Feb 13

If you wish Marie Rimmer to be struck dumb I am afraid you might have a long wait.

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frankly says...
7:29am Fri 15 Feb 13

oh come on....i think lady Rimmer on her regular photo shoots looks realy undernourished

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jaci.. says...
9:57am Fri 15 Feb 13

I work full time and earn an ok wage, however once my petrol and bills are paid I have very little left over, i dont drink and i don't smoke and don't really have a social life, i earn enough to just get by, however most months I do need to borrow money off family or friends to get me to the end of the month. If I lost my job then maybe I would be in need of the foodbank. It isn't just as black and white as its only people on benefits who need this or benefits have only been cut marginally, everybody has different circumstances that need to be taken in to account SANKEY not everybody has savings or other people to rely on. Also it hasn't just suddendly happened in St Helens its just that your only just seing it now as something is being done to help.

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anthonywilson says...
12:39pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Its disgusting that this day an age in what is still the 5th richest country in the world that anyone should need a foodbank.
Thanks goodness though people who need it are getting help and support this way. It does need to be emphasized that its certainly not just people on benefits who are finding the need for food banks. Many people who are working have had big reductions in salaries and as so many people who are working now part time rather than full time because that's all whats available, money simply doesnt go as far. Utility bills and food prices continue to increase but wages are either static or have fallen back to 2003 three levels as many recent reports will testify. The issue for me is that Foodbanks whilst much needed at the moment are most certainly not either a medium or long term solution for people who are financially struggling.

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Sankey says...
12:57pm Fri 15 Feb 13

I read in other parts of the country many people who use these are not what you would consider poor but middle class people with big houses. At the time of the crash I believe many had taken on debt they could never pay back often with interest only mortgages. That is still in the economy and the labour and now coalition have hidden it by reducing interest rates to almost zero. It's a ticking time bomb and once interest rates go up as they will expect a house price crash and another recession.

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Sankey says...
12:58pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Do you not think the headline food poverty crisis is a bit dramatic St. Helens star ? Is the whole of St. Helens starving ?

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jaci.. says...
1:01pm Fri 15 Feb 13

If it doesn't affect you then no I don't suppose you would consider it a crisis but if you ask the people in need of these foodbanks then yes i'm sure they would consider not being able to feed themselves or their children a crisis.

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Sankey says...
2:04pm Fri 15 Feb 13

As you said yourself Jac this situation has always been with us even at the height of the boom 10 years ago there was large jobless especially in St. Helens. I would like to bet then when tony Blair was pm people were struggling to feed their kids in some circumstances some self inflicted some not. So why now all of a sudden are we getting these headlines ? Could it be politically motivated by any chance? And by the way I speak as someone on job seekers allowance which is why in am writing this in the daytime.

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sherlock1 says...
4:06pm Fri 15 Feb 13

No suprise to the usual susspects using this thread to have a pop at rimmer

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ollie70 says...
9:58pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Indeed the headline is over-dramatic and unsurprisingly the St Helens Star is blatantly pro-Labour. Btw I have no interest in local politics. I'd be the first to help out a starving person, but as I've said before it amazes me that people are in this desperate situation. I don't doubt there are a few exceptions, but if your income goes on real necessities there should be no need to resort to a food bank. I don't wish to sound unsympathetic but walking to and from Newton is hardly going to kill you either. I really would like to hear the plights of these people because i survived for several years on very low benefits and never borrowed a penny.

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pitbullboxing says...
9:48am Sat 16 Feb 13

Sherlock , crying and sobbing to the star site. What a big girls blouse.

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Thurman says...
10:23am Sat 16 Feb 13

Good to see tesco are doing their bit as well,off loading horse burgers to the food bank

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sthelenslass says...
1:37pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I am glad people who find themselves in this situation have somewhere to go and get help. And as others have commented there have always been people who live in poverty. This isn't just a St Helens issue, its nation wide.

What I am sick of is the three main parties blaming each other and doing nothing to alleviate the situation. Its getting rather like 'my dog ate my home work'. Its all very well blaming the party before (Lab did it after they got in after the Tories as well) what I want to know is what are YOU doing about it? Preciously little that actually works but seems to cost a fortune. Its incompetence. If they worked in the private sector I would love to see how their appraisal would go! The targets this government has set itself they have consistently failed at.

However the Libs just enable them and Labour say very little of substance.

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