London Stressbusting and Wellbeing Events: London Spiritual Socials Supporting Barnet Food Bank & Connections Homeless Shelter

4 million

people at risk of going hungry

500,000 children live in families that can't afford to feed them
3.5 million adults cannot afford to eat properly
272 food banks across big cities and towns

Source: All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Hunger in the UK, Poverty and Social Exclusion project

This is Britain 2014 !

What is a food bank ?

With poverty in London seemingly spiralling out of control, foodbanks are springing up in most areas. When I was a kid I had never heard of a foodbank ! I guess the chart below says it all. Truly Shocking statistics.

Frontline care professionals identify people in need Care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers, CAB and police identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher. Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals who are best placed to assess need and make sure that it is genuine.

Clients receive emergency food Clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be exchanged for three days supply of emergency food. The list of foods in each parcel have been designed by dieticians to provide recipients with nutritionally balanced food. Some foodbanks run a delivery service, to get emergency food to clients living in rural areas and those who are unable to get to a foodbank.

Clients are signposted to further support Whilst their food is being packed, Foodbank volunteers will sit and chat with clients over a cup of tea or hot meal. This enables them to hear their stories and signpost them to agencies who can offer additional help and begin to resolve any underlying problems.

So yesterday I received delivery of a huge amount of Granola cereal and Rice bran oil. Far too much to carry across London so I have now found a worthy cause and good home for it. Just now had a load picked up by Barnet Food Bank. The remainder will be carried on Wednesday when I have Matthew, Michelle, Lorella and Carmen to help. I have spoken to Connections at St Martins and they are really happy to receive the cereal, oil and shampoo sachets.

Spiritual Action - What can you do to help ?

You can Volunteer http://www.trusselltrust.org/volunteer. You can donate money or food items. You will see many of the supermarkets have a donation box where you can donate food to your local foodbank. Look up your local Foodbank via the link above, Trussell Trust are one of the largest foodbank organisations or check out what Master google has to say.