Poverty figures published in March by the Department for Work and Pensions show that last year one in six British children lived in families with food insecurity. One in 40 children lived in a family that had used a food bank in the last 30 days, double the number of the previous year.
S6 Foodbank in Sheffield does a great job helping people survive the cost of living crisis. Along with more than 20 other food banks throughout Sheffield, they provide food and other essentials at a time when poverty is forcing many people to skip meals.
S6 was founded by local churches and community groups, with support from corporate sponsorship and the public. The food bank has 11 locations across the city, supporting 1200 people a week with emergency food.
Sheffield Green Party has been organising a Sheffield S6 Foodbank collection at Endcliffe Park for two years. Our next collection will be on Saturday 27 April at the main Hunters Bar entrance between 9.30 am and 1 pm. Hope to see you there.
If you can make a donation then that would be great, especially if you can give items the food bank is short of breakfast cereal, soup, pasta, baked beans, tinned meat or vegetables, UHT milk, tea, coffee or hygiene products. You can also donate money directly to S6 on their website: https://sheffields6.foodbank.org.uk/
Food banks are not in themselves a solution to food insecurity, but a symptom of poverty that should not exist in a country with great wealth. The problem is that successive governments have failed to introduce fair taxes on the wealthiest to guarantee liveable incomes for the people they serve.
Peter Gilbert (Green Party candidate, Ecclesall ward) and Councillor Brian Holmshaw (Green Party candidate, Broomhill & Sharrow Vale).
