Food bank runs out of food due to growing numbers in need of support
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Version 0 of 1. A food bank in north-west Glasgow has launched a social media campaign to get donations after warning it did not have enough food for the next day. Donations began flooding in after the food bank, which has seen its busiest year since opening four years ago, sent a series of tweets about the shortage. “Urgent we are running too low now on supplys.not enough for the week. if you can donate please do xxx,” one tweet read. Another added: “we have provided just under 20,000 food parcels to those in need. Our shelves are near empty this week. please if u can donate xxx” The Glasgow North West location has seen a 62 per cent rise in demand after an independent food bank closed recently, explained Adrian Curtis, the Foodbank Network Director of the Trussell Trust. It is just one of 420 in the UK run by the Trussell Trust, which altogether provided close to 1.2 million food packages, designed to last three days, over the last 12 months alone. The local food bank has handed out almost 7,000 three-day food supplies in the last financial year. “We understand that the food bank is low on certain items such as tinned potatoes, tinned fruit and tinned vegetables,” he told The Independent. “Following a social media request for donations, the food bank has been heartened to see the public donate food and money. The food bank is keen that donations continue in order to help them meet the current demand for emergency food.” More than 90 per cent of donations are given by members of the public. The banks provide a lifeline to people who have low incomes, or who have seen their benefits delayed or changed. Other common reasons people rely on food banks include debt, homelessness, mental health issues and domestic abuse. The appeal from the food bank follows awkward comments on the subject from Theresa May, who responded to Andrew Marr that the UK needs a “strong economy” to ensure demand for food banks across the UK does not keep rising. “There are many complex reasons why people go to food banks and I want to create an economy where we have a strong economy where we pay for public services that we need but we are also creating secure jobs,” she said. |