I recently read an article in a Scottish newspaper about a 54-year-old man who had served his country, both in the armed forces and at The Olympics, and was now surviving with the help of Food Banks.
But it was the next statistic that got me. In the city of Dundee, 145,900 three-day food packs were handed out, 48,000 of them to children. I was horrified by these figures, so I decided to look into the situation here in Northern Ireland.
A lovely young lady by the name of Emma Thorogood sent me an email with some sad but interesting facts.
The latest figures as of Tuesday 25 April 2017 show that figures have sadly hit an all-time high – over 32,700 three-day packs were handed out in Northern Ireland over the past year, 13,700 of them to children.
Low income accounts for 41% of all referrals, this is the highest percentage of any of the countries in the UK.
The Trussell Trusts Foodbank Network in NI provided these emergency supplies – 11,175 tonnes of Food. The Trust confirmed that only 21% were on benefits of some sort.
Pic: www.trusselltrust.org
Tony Graham, Director of Devolved Nations at The Trussell, said: “It is deeply concerning to find that yet again foodbank use in NI has increased and that low income now accounts for almost half of all foodbank referrals compared to just a third in 2015-16. Low wages, the high cost of living and issues with debt continue to throw households into crisis.”
My own point of view on this is one of absolute disgust. Despite a rise in pay due to the new National Living Wage and the wonderful (sarcasm, folks) Northern Ireland Assembly, it’s abundantly clear that 1) the rise was not enough and 2) it’s time for Stormont to stand up and be counted.
No more “he’s a Protestant or she’s a Catholic so I’m going to disagree with their policies”. It’s time to be real politicians, it’s time to wake up – people are starving out there in the real world.
Never mind using expenses to go across the water to look at how the union is doing on the mainland or heading down south to see if Irish policies are working without the North. The hard fact of the matter is that a single mother with two children and a low income or on benefits couldn’t give a rats ass, they want to know where the next meal is coming from.
WAKE UP. No. 10, The Taoiseach, I don’t care. If the so-called politicians of this country had to use foodbanks for a fortnight they would soon get a culture shock. I will leave you with this figure once more: 11,175 tonnes of food were given out in 2016-17. Think about that.
To find out where your nearest foodbank is or for more information see www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank