Wigan borough foodbank joins campaign to ensure everyone can access essential items

Atherton and Leigh Foodbank is backing the Guarantee our Essentials scheme, proposing that the UK Government reforms Universal Credit to allow everyone to afford the essentials we all need to get by – simultaneously ending the need for food banks.

More than 100 food banks across the UK are taking action to show support for the campaign to cover the costs of not only food but also household bills and travel.

Warren Done Project Manager of Atherton and Leigh Foodbank said: “Here at Atherton and Leigh Foodbank we are seeing more and more people plunged deeper into poverty and coming through the doors of food banks.

"In the last 12 months we provided 3,428 emergency food parcels helping feed 7,355 adults and children to local people who couldn’t afford the essentials. 2,767 of these were provided for children.

"These statistics are reflective of the picture across the UK as the Trussell Trust recently announced that their network – of which we’re a part – distributed almost three million emergency food parcels between April 2022 – March 2023 – the highest number on record”.

“In our food bank, the majority of the people that we support are in receipt of Universal Credit, including many who will also be in work.

"Right now, Universal Credit is not providing enough to cover the costs of life’s essentials, such as food, household bills or travel costs

“The Trussell Trust estimates that to afford even these core essential costs a single person is £120 a week, however the basic rate of Universal Credit is just £85 a week. This is already too low, yet people needing to use our food bank can have up to 25 per cent of that deducted to repay debts, such as advance payments and budgeting loans from the Department for Work and Pensions.

“We’re proud of the work that we’re doing to help meet the needs of our community, but we don’t want to exist. We believe everyone should have enough money to be able to afford to buy food and other essentials.”

To find out more about the Guarantee our Essentials campaign, Atherton and Leigh Foodbank is holding a stall on Friday September 8 from 9am to 12.30pm outside St John the Baptist’s Parish Church, Market Place, Atherton, M46 0DD. The food bank is inviting everyone from the local community to come and find out about the campaign, sign their petition and show support for the work in the community.