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Scheme to provide emergency food parcels launched in islands     18/9/13

A foodbank has been set up in the Western Isles to help people hit by hard times.

The Eilean Siar Foodbank is a partnership between the New Wine Church and the Trussell Trust and works with professional agencies to help the hungry.

Redundancy, illness, benefit delay, domestic violence, debt, family breakdown, extra fuel bills in winter are just some of the reasons why people go without food.

Some people in the Western Isles struggle every day to meet their financial commitments. Many have to choose between either paying bills or feeding their families.

Need for the foodbank has been shown from the demand for an emergency food delivery service delivered by the New Wine Church in Stornoway for the past two years.

It is receiving up to four callouts per week from as far afield as Barra while benefit reforms and the declining economy is adding to problems.

MSP Alasdair Allan who spoke at the official launch of the Eilean Siar Foodbank on Saturday said: “I regard it as a scandal that there are people in the Western Isles in the 21st century who struggle to feed themselves and their families, but this situation is sadly a reality for some people. My own view is that changes happening in the benefits system just now are making this situation much worse.

“What is positive, however, is that so many people in the islands are concerned enough so act. The New Wine Church in Stornoway, working in partnership with the Trussell Trust, has set up the Eilean Siar Foodbank in Point Street.

“The foodbank will organise food deliveries to those in need throughout the Western Isles, and have already had many people referred to them by a number of agencies.

“I would commend the work being done in the community to meet the needs of families in crisis and wish all the volunteers well in their work.

“Some of the most vulnerable families in the islands are currently facing great uncertainty around their basic income and while I am saddened that this facility is needed I am greatly heartened by the commitment of those providing it.”

13 million people live below the poverty line in the UK and every day people in the UK go hungry. Trussell Trust foodbanks provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK.

In 2011-12 foodbanks fed 128,687 people nationwide, in 2012-13 we anticipate this number will increase to over 230,000. Rising costs of food and fuel combined with static income, high unemployment and changes to benefits are causing more and more people to come to foodbanks for help.

All food is donated by the public and sorted by volunteers. Frontline care professionals such as doctors and social workers identify people in crisis and issue a food voucher.

Clients receive three days of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food in exchange for their food voucher. Foodbanks also make time to chat and to signpost clients to other helpful services.

The Trussell Trust works to empower local communities to combat poverty and exclusion. It says it works with the “people that society forgets, providing practical help through sustainable projects and enabling each person to realise that they are valued.”

Its vision is “to build communities where people of all backgrounds are included and have the opportunity to live in dignity with hope for the future.”