To ask how long you think food banks should support people for?

[tartanbaker]

I help to run an independent food bank, & we currently support over 100 families. We are nearing our capacity (in terms of numbers we can help) due to limited storage etc, but there are new people applying all the time. We give people food every week, and some families have been registered with us for about 2 years now. They are still needy, and we all know that things are going to continue being tough for the foreseeable future, so my question is…if you were to donate to a food bank, how would you want them to use your food/money? Continuing to help everyone for as long as they ask for help, even though it might mean turning others away? Or telling existing families who rely on you that you can’t help them any more because you are going to help new people now? It’s so hard, and an ongoing debate we are having, and I’d be really interested to hear other people’s opinions. Both options seem really tough….

If income hasnt increased how do you suppose to wean people off food? Some of you really shouldnt be anywhere near vulnerable people

I too run an independent food bank/pantry. I’m wondering if you’re using the pantry model or a free food bank? We have 2 sides to our operation, one is a food bank and the other is a weekly pantry.

100% this! You have created a culture of dependency.

Could you move to fortnightly parcels after say 3 months then monthly after 6 months, then needing a re-referral/reassessment after that point or something similar, so not suddenly cutting off support but making sure you can support a lot more people.

If it's possible to find out, I would prioritise those who have no money coming in at all. My daughter's friend was too disabled to work but was turned down at her assessment and had to wait for the appeal. She had no money. Friends, most of whom were also disabled and benefit dependent had to send what they could to feed her. This could well be the situation with new people, but shouldn't be with those you have supported for two years.

Ihatethenewlook

Thank you for your anecdote. Are you suggesting that you friend chose their lifestyle? If you look closely at their background, core beliefs, experiences then there will be reasons they feel the need for the wine. I’ve worked with families for over 20 years. I’m not naive. Yes, your friend could cut out the wine and buy food with it but that doesn’t mean she is ‘choosing a lifestyle’.

The reasons for poverty and ‘learned helplessness’ or dependency are multifaceted and complex. Individual choice is just one tiny tiny part. The use of the phrase ‘lifestyle choice’ is pretty judgemental and condescending and I find it offensive.

New families should not be turned away, and should be helped, as I'm sure it must have taken a lot for them to approach you in the first place.

Those who have been going to you for over 2 years should have some sort of restriction like having to re-register and go to the back of the queue, or only visiting once every couple of months to avoid them developing a dependency on your service.

I think what is most needed varies a lot. I buy gift cards for the supermarket nearest to the food bank I support, that way the food bank volunteers can get what they most need that week.

Both the local allotment groups have an arrangement where they put aside excess produce for collection by food banks, so that at certain times of the year there's no shortage of fresh fruit and veg, and 2 local independent bakeries give them leftover bread and cake at the end of the day.

we send a weekly list to our clients so that they can choose what we pack for them. It felt really important to us to give people that choice so as to leave them with as much control and dignity as we could

I'm sure this is with the best of intentions but honestly it doesn't sound like you're providing an emergency food bank, more a convenient click and collect service. I can absolutely see how very long term clients may have just become accustomed to this whilst not necessarily needing it.

What an awful decision to have to make. I was reading something about the food bank in my local town just the other day. It was an article explaining why they are asking for more & more donations.

I live in a seemingly affluent place where the local food bank only opened in 2018. So far in the first 4 months of 2022 they have provided more food parcels to people in need than during the whole of 2019 & 2020 combined.

Now part of that will be word of mouth, people now knowing we have a local facility. But even with that it's still ridiculously depressing. In a wealthy, "modern" country in 2022.

Yes this sounds a good idea to me

I agree with this. Whilst some choice is good ie. Vegetarian, allergies catered for I'd be careful you aren't letting people choose everything. Otherwise why would they ever go to a shop when they can afford it.

I wonder whether in doing such a good job of making it more dignified, you’ve made it something that people are happy to abuse because they are picking food like they’re doing online shopping.

I think foodbanks are brilliant for supporting the needy, but I don’t know whether I feel ok with someone being needy for 2 years - it’s not a judgement on people using the food banks (I don’t have enough experience of that kind of thing to judge circumstances) but I just wonder whether if a person needs to use a food bank for two years why??? Surely if they are unemployed they should have got a job, if too in debt to buy food then they should have put measures in place like bankruptcy and voluntary payment reductions.

i don’t have enough experience to know, but 2 years using a food bank sounds like it is more likely to be people who are abusing it, rather than people who have fallen on hard times for a few months. Long term use of a food bank can’t possibly be sustainable because of the new people who will need support, I would expect you need people to cycle in and out at an equal rate.

happy to hear more about it though - like I said, not a judgement just my perception

In your position the most sensible thing would be to cut back on the fresh produce / protein and give everyone a little less to then enable you to help more people

Of course, how stupid, if the OP only hadn't fed them, they'd have stood under the magic money tree and been showered in its munificence.

What the fuck can't people see shades of grey? Yes, there may be people who are prioritising fripperies, or who are just about able to pay their gas bill or rent, because they use the food bank (some fucking "dependency" when that's the option), but can we please just acknowledge that our society is gubbed?

It doesn't work - UC claimants that see nothing for weeks, clearly disabled people having to reclaim in a system that really looks like a hostile environment. Working people earning too little to exist on.

The reality for the OP is that there isn't a right answer because she's trying to square the circle of a broken system.

And how lucky are those of us who are debating this from the position of being the folk who chuck some tins into the collection, or add a few £5 fare shares into their online shop? We're living in a society where people are expected to prostate at the feet of charity to show that they are "deserving" of food. Food, for fucks sake.

Good luck OP.

I think it is an impossible dilemma which may get worse as those of us with moderate incomes are squeezed too much to be able to donate any more.

As above.
Plus, I hated school, wasn’t a great student but one thing that’s stuck with me is being taught that you help anyone where you can, unconditionally. I donate food, I’ll donate money if asked, and I trust the organisation to use my donations as they see fit. It’s unconditional, I don’t want thanks or to choose who it helps.
Its a national disgrace that in a wealthy country we have families and individuals reliant on food banks and I think the situation will only get worse.

Are many of your clients on drugs/alcohol? Are you not concerned that you are enabling them to spend more on drugs and alcohol as they can get food from you and so are making their problem worse rather than better? Making them dependent not only on drugs/alcohol but also on you. I think once you have allowed them to depend on you for two years it is going to make things more difficult for them when it has to stop and I don't think this is a good model at all - what they need is completely different help that you are not in a position to give.

I would prioritise families with children - but if they are families that can't feed their children because of drug or alcohol problems then I would be calling SS. I would offer help for a set time somewhere between two and six months and then they would have to re refer. Successful re referral would be dependent on them accessing the help they have been sign posted to. That way they are hopefully moving forward in a positive way.

The reality for the OP is that there isn't a right answer because she's trying to square the circle of a broken system

Exactly this.

Of course people with no money are dependent on free food.

This thread is depressing. Thank you very much for the disgusting levels of poverty, Tory government.

I didn't suggest for a moment they were. If you know your clients backgrounds you will know that needing to use a food bank is almost always indicative of an underlying need that may be alleviated to some extent with the provision of other forms of support. I'm not suggesting food banks stop issuing, I'm suggesting it should always be done as part of a fuller support offer.

@5128gap and @OfstedOffred as you’re saying something similar in reply to me - yes, but we are there seeing people who have already had / are continuing to have the “fuller support offer”, but it isn’t joined up or good enough.

Ofsted we have people in all those circumstances, unsurprisingly. Now in some cases you can imagine that, say, severe mental health issues = chaos at home = issues in holding down work = poverty = hunger and that person may unsurprisingly be at our door each week and need more of some other support to break the cycle, but in some (many I’d say) cases people have received all the support they’re entitled to and are still not making ends meet (or are living on far less money than they need, so they’re eating and feeding their kids food which is calorific but poor). We get referrals from the Jobcentre fgs. Referrals from social services. We feed one chap who can’t physically cook/open the things we were giving him and was going up and down the street looking for someone to open tins.

I've worked for various charities and when families were referred for hardship payments or food bank vouchers we could not do more than three in a twelve month period. This was to stop a reliance building up, obviously at the same time help would be given with regards to ensuring all relevant benefits were in place etc.

This is the procedure in my local area. There are 5 foodbanks and despite the above similar restrictions and the availability of community meals, there are still additional people who can't get access to the foodbank service.

I've no idea what the solution is apart from better working conditions and adequate support for people.

I know you have expanded on this a little already @tartanbaker but how does the whole list / shopping for what is chosen work?

From a purely logistical perspective I think you need to look at your current model.

It sounds like you are running an amazing service and really going above and beyond for the people who need to use you, but having to turn people away must go against the whole ethos of your foodbank?

I'm not sure if being a private foodbank means you can reach out to the local public for donations? Monetary and actual donations. Twitter / Instagram / local schools.

The two tier ides sounds workable too?

Sending you best wishes and lots of luck. If nothing else this thread will hopefully remind people to continue to donate to their local foodbanks 🙏

Surely if they are unemployed they should have got a job

I didnt realise it would be so simple, cant believe not a single person in that cohort has thought of that, phew lucky you came along really, get a job, such good and useful advice

Slow handclap for the idea that the food bank is the cause of drug dependency.