I visited the Storehouse food bank in Richmond. This is food bank operating on Thursday's and run by the Influence Church.
For the vast majority of us, the thought of being without food is not something we spend time worrying about. But for some, this is a tragic reality and community projects like Storehouse do a wonderful job of helping to alleviate some of the pressure through a difficult time.
This project sources most of its food form the local community and churches. They are able to provide a level of customisation to the families in need and also find a good balance between providing support and encouraging clients not to become dependent on the food bank.
For me the visit highlighted findings by the Trussel Trust (the largest food bank operator in the UK) that show the main cause of people needing food banks appears to be delays to benefits or benefit sanctions. I plan to investigate this issue more to see if any tweaks are required to the way we administer benefits to limit the risk of people going hungry. Similarly, when people's benefit status changes this appears to sometimes cause delays in payments which is also something that ought to be recitfied. Food banks have grown in use not just in the UK but across Europe and the US, highlighting that part of the issue is the economic recession we have been experiencing. The best long term solution to the problem is to ensure more people are in work, earning a decent wage,