Thoughts on Foodbanks

[GlasgowSWFB]

Hi there. It would be really useful to hear your thoughts about foodbanks.

Have you ever been to one?

Have you ever donated to one?

Do you have any criticisms?

Do you have any questions?

Thanks.

Have you ever been to one? Yes as a volunteer

Have you ever donated to one? Yes

Do you have any criticisms?
That they are a thing at all. Most of our users are in work, have caring duties or on disability benefit. The common triggers for calling us are job loss, illness, unexpected expense (school starting to use logoed shirts, fridge breaking down, bus fares going up, county stopping free bus passes for kids going to school).

Local politicians use them as poverty porn for their own electoral standing. We refuse to engage with this at all. Especially as our local MP voted with the whip on free school meals, reduction in UC, reduction in corporation tax and reduction in higher tax brackets and nodded through without scrutiny trade deals that directly harms our farming communities.

Do you have any questions?
How do you counter the myths that underpin the deserving poor narratives?

Thanks for that comment. That post has added to my knowledge. Those are points I wasn't aware of. People with mental health issues are disproportionately represented among those we serve. More likely to fall into poverty quite apart from the negative effect on mental health of poverty.

Thank you.

We agree that foodbanks need to be community based. We were set up as a local initiative in the south west of Glasgow. For a variety of reasons we decided to go with the Trussell Trust model and haven't regretted it. They are not perfect. We are not perfect.

We initially didn't have paid staff but it was getting to a scale where we needed someone full time. We had an extraordinary person who became our first employee as manager and remains our only full time employee. We have one half time employee and are about to take on a second. Our manager was originally a volunteer having spent 10 years after school experiencing some of the randomness and cruelty of the benefits system. This was as a result of long term illness which thankfully she recovered from. We were her first ever job.

We couldn't operate without her.

Basically we don't prioritise who gets food. The referral agencies are essentially triaging for us as well as working with the individuals to address the underlying issues. Which is not always possible - illness, low and uncertain pay, inadequate welfare payments.

Some professional (and charities who refer to us) do give out vouchers freely and we occasionally try to challenge that. However, our advice to them - and to ourselves - is always to give people the benefit of the doubt.

We do have a limit initially of 6 vouchers in 6 months. That is often extended in discussion with the referring agency. Agreed we aren't intended to be a long term solution. "

We are anxious not to create dependency but people are relying on us. It is impossible to completely balance those.

"But what are those people supposed to do after that if they still can't afford to eat?"

I honestly can't answer that question. I'm sure we will extend the number of parcels after speaking to the referring agency. But we are not a solution to long term poverty and the cost of living crisis. We have never claimed to be a solution. Thank you for the question. I will be reporting back to our team the outcome of this thread - for which we are grateful for every response. That question will be prominent within that.

As will your last paragraph. It is so true - and frightening.

Thank you so much.

Can I quote from your reply on social media? I will paraphrase some of what has been said but I won't quote anything without permission.

Have you ever been to one?
no

Have you ever donated to one?
yes

Do you have any criticisms?
yes - the referral model means that people in need (e.g. freelancers) might fall through the gaps or those who feel to ashamed to contact the various avenues for support. I think some of the schemes whereby people pay a nominal sum (£1-£2) to receive items / choose a set number, is really good, however, they are not widespread across the country.

Do you have any questions?
would you consider offering frozen food?

Thank you for your response.

Delays in benefits used to be the biggest single reason people were referred to us. Also changes (reductions or sanctions) to benefits.

There have been some with waiting for the first pay. Not as many as I would have thought - possibly some employers are giving advances. Hopefully not too much use of "payday loans".

I can't really square the 3 days with weeks - or months - of little or no money. People can come back - we tend to limit that to weekly. That leaves gaps. We aren't the only provision - there are larders, pantries etc which provide low cost food. They are a big help and are often making use of surplus food from supermarkets. It is still people relying on charity to put food on their table which is so wrong.

Extended provision - we don't yet although we are looking at that possibly in partnership with other foodbanks across the south of Glasgow. We are very happy for friends or family to pick up food parcels (although that has a major obstacle in terms of the stigma attached to admitting to friends and family that they need help).

We are getting set up to be able to give some assistance with domestic fuel. We have been able to help get emergency credit and need to look at doing more of that.

That's another very good point about people who can't afford to get to work. In our experience the vast majority of people we work with - if they aren't already working, which is increasingly common - want to work if they are able. Some have to work as a condition of welfare payments - although this can literally leave them out of pocket.

We have attempted to get travel tokens for local buses so we can give these to people to get them home from the foodbank when they are relatively heavy laden. We will try writing again.

In Scotland now bus fares only apply to 22-60 but are crippling high for many. Glasgow is one of the most expensive cities for it.

Our remit. We are wary of over extending ourselves and getting beyond our expertise and resources. However, if something can help the people we are serving or end their need to come to us it is of interest to us and so within our remit.

We do signpost people where we can. And many people who come to us are being helped by the agencies who have referred them to us.

No need to apologise for lots of questions. We love to receive questions and constructive criticism. We want to be the best possible foodbank for as long as we are needed - and then to close when we aren't needed.

I would love to quote some of what you have said on our social media. I will paraphrase some of what has appeared on this thread. I will only quote with permission.

Thank you again.

I'm a drop off point for donations (at work) I've been to drop off donations and got invited to the volunteer Christmas party each year pre covid. Lovely people.

Only criticisms are that food emergencies don't only happen on Fridays (in the city we had 7 day a week coverage through a variety of different providers but only one in the town I live in now) not everyone has cooking facilities, and many people have such deep routed issues that a box of food is masking what they really need- not the food banks fault but a societal one. Trussel trust ones are very bureaucratic, I preferred my last city situation where no paperwork was needed

Thank you for your response. Thank you also for your donations of time and food.

We agree what we shouldn't exist.

"Poverty porn" can be very distressing and misleading although, in the right hands, it can shed some light on the issues.

The sight of a Government minister visiting his local foodbank and (rightly) praising them for efforts during Covid while being oblivious to the fact that, like us, they opened in 2013! Not a good look!

Great question about the "deserving poor narratives". We have spent a lot of time and effort thinking about that and trying to counter it. As far as we are concerned, if someone is referred to us by a "front line professional" because they are in need - then that is all we need.

Whether people are in need because of their own "bad choices" or through circumstances outwith their control is irrelevant to us. We are not set up to be judgemental. We want people to take responsibility for the reasons - if it is "bad choices" they are generally engaging with an agency or charity who are helping with those issues. For the others (who are in the vast majority) we want governments at all levels to take responsibility.

Thank you again.

Thank you for your response and thank you for your donations.

The referral model is far from perfect but I don't think we could have sustained this lone (8.5 years) without it. And we are continually trying to improve it.

People do fall through the gaps. And there is still a great deal of shame about going to a foodbank. It is less than it was now that foodbanks are such an accepted part of the "welfare" map. We don't want to be accepted and we have no wish to be part of the welfare state. But we want people to come to us when in need and to feel accepted, not judged, and loved.

There are increasing numbers of pantries like you describe and these provide a little more dignity and a bit more choice than we are able to. However, they can be at the mercy of what surplus food comes their way. This means that the level of choice and the quality of the produce can be variable. From what we h hear from friends who are working with that model the amount and quality of surplus food coming through to them from the supermarkets are both falling while demand is increasing. We welcome them and have supported some of them but like us they are still people relying on charity to feed their families.

We have given out a small amount of frozen food. We are very limited in the space we have available at our three centres (churches) who are remarkably supportive of us. We have a concern about how food is stored and possible refreezes.

Thank you again.

I have this issue. Our local Foosball is TT. I volunteered for them for 3 years as an atheist. Then they got a new manager who only wanted cookie cutter Christians as volunteers.

If Truss is elected as PM food banks are going to have a bumper year. She's against handouts although her team are re-weaseling that today.

Hey OP, I’m responding as someone who runs a “pantry” type operation (visitors pay £2 a time if they can afford it, what we have is largely dependent on supermarket surplus, unlimited visits). Most are weekly, around 40 households in every two hour opening slot. Happy to chat here or irl if it’d be useful. We’re at the other end of the UK from you unfortunately!

Thank you for your response and for being a drop off point at your work as well as delivering the donations.

Thank you for the criticisms. We do welcome these and usually largely agree with them. While we don't want to exist, for as long as we are needed we want to be the best foodbank we can possibly be.

Point well made about Fridays and the weekend. We are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is partly to do with the availability of premises and also the resources to staff them.

We are discussing with other groups having some shared provision across Glasgow for evenings and weekends. There are various groups who do provide some amazing cover at those times and we try to network with them. We are also very open to friends or family picking up parcels from us although that has a major stumbling block in that many are reluctant to admit to friends and family that they are in need.

We have become well aware that a horrifying number of people don't have cooking facilities. We have long provided "kettle packs" for people in that situation. Increasingly, people are asking us for food that doesn't need cooked because of the cost of doing so. That is only going to increase as we move into the winter.

We agree that we are masking issues and ask ourselves the question "if we stopped tomorrow would governments at all levels step up to the mark?" We are not convinced that they would.

We are a Trussell Trust foodbank (small independent charity but part of of the TT network). I agree that there is a certain amount of bureaucracy involved but I don't think it is excessive and it is the price to be paid for good governance and accountability. That is not not to say that other models have bad governance and aren't accountable. But we have certainly not regretted choosing to be part of the TT network when we started off.

Thank you again.

Have you ever been to one?

• no, although I have in my life been in receipt of other forms of charity.

Have you ever donated to one?

• yes, through my church mainly.

Do you have any criticisms?

• they don't address the underlying problems, just put a sticking-plaster over the top. As a direct result of this I got involved in a disability charity helping people access the benefits they were entitled to, thus helping at least a handful of people avoid the need to access food banks at all.

Do you have any questions?

• what can you do to put yourself out of business?

Thank you for your reponse.

Thank you also for donating to your local foodbank.

Thank you for your criticisms. We really do value criticism and usually agree with them.

We agree we are a sticking plaster. We alleviate the underlying causes

Sorry. Posted reply too quickly.

Sometimes sticking plasters work as a short term measure until some underlying issues get resolved.

Oh, I agree sticking plasters are sometimes needed! I've been very grateful when I've been in receipt of charity, but it's fairness and justice that's really needed long term.

I've used a foodbank. We had power and cooking facilities so DS had grown up on porridge, vegetable and chickpea or lentil curry, chilli and similar cheap basic foods. While we were thankful for the foodbank parcel, there was a lot DS wouldn't eat as he wasn't used to it. I've donated to foodbanks since.

Sorry. I just lost my full reply. I think I will type it in Word and then copy and paste. But not now. The day job (accountant) is calling!

Thanks for doing that. The "pantries" are doing a great job and we love the choice and ability to pay for food. We have quite a few near us in Glasgow and we have supported some of them and referred people on to them.

I don't think they are a solution any more than "traditional" (ouch - but you know what I mean) are. But the more help there is the better.

We are all still situations where people are relying on charity to put food on their tables.

It's not sustainable. It's not right. It's not justice.

Keep up the great work. Thanks for reaching out to us.

I'm sorry you had to use a foodbank but glad it was there for you and your son. We worry about the long term effects on children of poverty and food crisis. Not so smush the nutritional aspect of it (although the recurrence of Victorian medical conditions such as rickets is horrifying 😡). But the emotional and psychological effect on children.

Thank you for your donations.

We ❤️ all donations but ones from people who have been in your position are somehow even more special. Not in the sense of "paying back" because there is absolutely no expectation of that. But because they know how much difference those food parcels made.

It's so wrong that we are having conversations like this in a rich country.

Take care.

*HettieHelvetica
*

I have this issue. Our local Foosball is TT. I volunteered for them for 3 years as an atheist. Then they got a new manager who only wanted cookie cutter Christians as volunteers.

That's awful. Have you tried contacting the TT nationally?

I got involved as a Christian. I remain involved as a Christian. Though no longer as a church member (long story!) But any management that excludes valuable committed volunteers on such grounds is letting so many people down. Neither our Chair nor our Manager identifies as a Christian and I wouldn't have it any other way. We are part of the TT network but have never experienced any pressure from them to conform.

Thanks for those three years. You will never know the lives you impacted by doing that.

I hope you find an outlet for your commitment, compassion and energy.

😢 We are going to have a "bumper" year.

The competing promises of tax cuts frighten us. We tend to see everything through the filter of "what effect will that have on those we serve?"

Tax cuts are not high on our wish list!

@GlasgowSWFB I contacted Trussell trust nationally and complained. They brushed me off. Said it was an independent charity. No idea if @HettieHelvetica did the same.

Trussell need to sort that out. It's not a good look.

Thanks for doing that. I have to admit it is the response I expected. To be fair it's partly the flip side of what I said about us not being pressurised to conform and respected as an independent charity.

But I believe it is wrong and unhelpful to be exclusive as appears to be the situation in these two cases and probably many others.

I will pass the concern on to our local TT manager.