CASH BOOST FOR FOOD BANKS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

The Dean of Leicester Cathedral, the Very Rev David Monteith, visits FareShare

Cash boost for food banks

by Adrian Troughton

The new Dean of Leicester has announced an increase in support for food banks.

The Very Rev David Monteith revealed the Diocese of Leicester was to give FareShare Leicester £10,000 a year – up from last year's £5,000.

The Dean made the announcement as he visited the headquarters of FareShare Leicester, on Oaks industrial estate, off Coventry Road, Narborough.

Mr Monteith said: "It was pleasure to visit the FareShare organisation and to be able to announce that the diocese is to double its financial support.

"This increased support should enable this organisation to plan ahead with confidence and not to have to worry about meeting administration costs."

FareShare is an international movement which receives food from shops and factories and gives it to churches, charities and community groups to distribute to the poor.

Nearly 50 food banks will be running in the county by the end of June – double the number that were open a year ago.

Mr Monteith said the work FareShare does was becoming increasingly relied upon as more people struggled in the financial climate.

He said: "It is extraordinary that in our society, which is relatively wealthy, there are many people who just can't put food on the table for their families.

"The number of people who have to be helped in this way is growing."Throughout the diocese we are coming across increasing cases of hardship, people who, quite simply, are relying on organisations such as FareShare to keep them going."

John Willetts, project director of FareShare Leicester, said: "The priority that David Monteith has given to this visit highlights what the churches, cathedral, diocese and FareShare Leicester are doing to support the marginalised and disadvantaged in our community.

"As our founding partner, the diocese has always given us great support."

Jonathan Kerry, chief executive and diocesan secretary, said: "The Diocese of Leicester is delighted to give additional support to FareShare Leicester.

"We are doubling our annual contribution to help FareShare have a secure organisational base and to mean that money it raises from other sources goes more directly to benefit those working with people in our communities."

LEICESTER CHILD POVERTY COMMISSION CONFERENCE

This morning I'm at St Martins House, Peacock Lane, where the Leicester Child Poverty Commission conference is taking place in the Grand Hall. I'm glad to see Cllr Manjula Sood, Assistant Mayor with portfolio for Community Involvment, Partnerships and Equalities (and Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) here today.

This is the second annual event on this topic. The first was held on 25 May 2012 at De Montfort University and was reported in the Leicester Mercury.

Today's conference is opened by Rachel Dickinson (Strategic Director, Children, Leicester City Council) opens the meeting - and chairs the rest of the day.

Cllr Rory Palmer (Deputy City Mayor and Chair of Leicester Child Poverty Commission) welcomes delegates. Here are a few extracts from his letter of welcome included in our packs:

Since last year's conference the Leicester Child Poverty Commission has published 66 recommendations, a number of which have been implemented. Significant work is taking place across the public, private and voluntary sectors to make progress in implementing all of the recommendations. The Commission has continued work with partners to raise awareness of child poverty in the city, to develop new thinking on how to address this challenge and how to monitor the impact of public spending cuts, welfare changes and falling household budgets. Amongst other activities the Commission make a formal response to the Government's consultation on how child poverty should be measured, we held a meeting with businesses and employers to talk about the economic impact of pverty and thge role of the private sector in tackling poverty, and we have worked to ensure child poverty is an issue discussed by other key organisations like the new Health & Wellbeing Board.

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, gives the keynote address. I am always impressed by what Bishop Tim has to say on the subject of poverty. He gave the keynote address at the 2012 Annual General Meeting of Leicester Council of Faiths, with the title, "The Recession and its Effects on Inter-Faith Relations". He has been in print on the topic many times and put in a memorable appearance on BBC2's Newsnight in January 2012 where he more than held his own in the face of a rigorous interrogation by Jeremy Paxman about opposition from the Bishops in the House of Lords to the Welfare Reform Bill.

After Bishop Tim's keynote address, we move on to workshop discussion. We're asked to consider the role of communities and organisations in combating child poverty, facilitated by Voluntary Action LeicesterShire. There are two questions to help focus our discussions:

• What practical things can you do to support the recommendations of the Child Poverty Commission?
• What do you need the Child Poverty Commission to do to help you achieve these things?

Themes have been allocated to different groups of tables:

• Early years (five tables)
• Income, personal finance & housing (four tables)
• Health & wellbeing (three tables)
• Economy, work & transport (three tables)
• Policy & governance (two tables)

Our table, at the back of the hall, is shown on the diagram, but it doesn't have a theme allocated to it. I guess ours would be "latecomers" or "nearest the coffee". We're allowed to pick our own theme, so we go for "Early years". I do half an hour on this one (during which we're joined by Dr Katherine Duffy, one of the 11 members of the Leicester Child Poverty Commission). For the second part of this session I move to another table to discuss "Income, personal finance and housing". Then coffee, I'm glad to say.

The workshops prompt a couple more questions that will fit in the Resilience Audit I'll be conducting with places of worship and faith-based community centres in Leicester over the next few months on behalf of the Council of Faiths.

After the break there's a panel on stage, discussing issues surrounding child poverty from their own areas of interest and positive examples of actions taken so far.

• John Willets (Project Director, FareShare Leicester)
• Imran Hussain (Head of Policy, Rights and Advocacy at Child Poverty Action Group)
• Jon Ashworth MP (Labour, Leicester South)
• Catherine Stretton, Head Teacher, Marriot School

Each has the opportunity to speak briefly, then respond to questions from the floor.  This fills an hour of the programme.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester, makes the closing remarks. I managed to write down a few of the things he said, from a short speech that was both rousing and reflective: "Poverty affects many people in this city in ways which many other people in this city find repulsive. [...] it has sometimes been said that communities in Leicester lead parallel lives - this is true, but not along ethnic, racial or religious lines; in more practical, meaningful terms, this is determined by differing levels of income." If I was able to transcribe faster, I'd have written down more.

Today we heard about a recent study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that the number of children living in poverty would increase by 50% by 2020. I searched for this online and found an article in the London Evening Standard (7 May 2013) part of which I quote below:

More than one million more children will fall into poverty in the UK by the end of the decade, new research has predicted.

The assessment by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the projected increase from 2010/11 to 2020/21 will reverse the reductions in child poverty rates witnessed in the previous decade.

As I leave the conference, I reflect on what has more power to change things. You can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have the will, the desire to make a difference, what good can it do. Now that the money that we were all getting used to being available is being taken off the table, we have to fall back on the power of that will and desire. And to judge by what I have heard today, there's plenty of that on tap.

IT'S WALL-TO-WALL FOOD AS DONATIONS POUR IN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

It's wall-to-wall food as donations pour in

Food donations were delivered by the van-load as Leicester's Sikh community rallied together for a charity food drive.

More than 10,000 items, including canned goods, rice and pasta were collected on Saturday at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, in East Park Road, to coincide with a special day in the religion's calendar.

Vaisakhi celebrates Khalsa, the formation of the Sikh community in 1699. It is marked the world over by Sikh worshippers and is traditionally a time to help others.

Thousands of people took along bags of food to the charity event, as well as ordering items online and having them delivered to the venue by supermarket vans.

It was estimated that the total weight of the donations was about seven tons.

Amandeep Rai, of the Leicestershire Sikh Alliance, which organised the event, said: "It's been a constant stream of food, it's been amazing. We've had vans turning up with bags full of food – we've got at least 10,000 items, if not a lot more.

"We've had volunteers constantly sorting the food into piles, and the piles have just continued to grow."

Amandeep said one of the central beliefs of Khalsa was the principal of Seva, which means selfless service, and that was why the food drive had been organised.

The alliance will donate the collected food to a number of charities including FareShare Leicester, the British Red Cross and the Dawn Centre, a homeless shelter in Conduit Street, Leicester city centre.

Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth went along to show his support for the drive.

He said: "It's absolutely amazing – there's just wall-to-wall food. Tins of beans, rice, vegetables, pasta – anything you can think of, I'm so impressed.

"It's a tribute to the Leicester Sikh community which has really outdone itself."

FOOD BANKS PROVING LIFELINE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Food banks proving lifeline

by Tom Mack

Nearly 50 food banks will be up and running by the end of June – double the number that were open a year ago.

The Fareshare project now has 35 food banks around the county, compared with 22 this time last year.

By the end of June, that number will have risen to 48.

Fareshare, an international movement, receives food from shops and factories and gives it to churches, charities and community groups to distribute to the poor.

Organisers said the increase in banks was needed as the free food was becoming a lifeline for people affected by the slow job market and changes to benefits.

Simone Connolly, Fareshare's project manager for Leicestershire, said: "The increase is largely in relation to problems with the economy and what we're seeing is local authorities and community groups preparing for the welfare reforms.

"The bedroom tax means a lot of people will be £30 to £40 a week worse off and that's pretty drastic – that's their money for food."

She said food banks were popular with cash-strapped councils which wanted to find solutions to poverty that did not cost much.

Last month, a bank was set up on the Gilmorton estate with a £500 grant from Leicester City Council.

Simone said: "The increase in demand also means we're getting new applications all the time and more food is required.

"We have to work hard to sustain the service we provide and we're reliant on the food industry – the manufacturers and retailers which give us food."

Cassie Harris, 22, who uses the food bank on the Gilmorton estate, said rising prices and unemployment had had a double impact on her family.

She said: "My partner was made redundant and now he's on a low wage so we're getting housing and council tax benefits.

"I used to be able to afford to shop in Morrisons, but with prices going up I can't any more.

"It's Iceland or the market now.

"I think things are going to keep getting worse until there are more jobs."

At the Carpenters Arms rehabilitation centre, in Loughborough, director Judith Spence has been working with groups such as Fareshare to feed the poor for about five years.

She said: "Since Christmas, we've seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of people and we now give out more than 600 food packs a week – that's 150 individuals and 100 families.

"I think we're going to see more these next few months because people are worrying about their benefits."

Leicestershire AIDS Support Services also runs a Fareshare food bank and has seen a 33 per cent increase in the amount it gives out in the past year. Chief executive Jenny Hand said: "More people are needing Fareshare food and the numbers have risen from about 30 to 40 a week here.

"We help members of our client group because food and a good diet are very important for people whose lives are affected by HIV.

"We're bracing ourselves for more people after the welfare changes take effect, especially with some people having to go four or five weeks between their benefits payments.

"Fareshare is a lifesaver for many people."

TEMPLES TO COLLECT FOOD FOR THE POOR

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Temples to collect food for the poor

The city's Sikh community will be collecting thousands of pounds worth of food to help the poor and celebrate Vaisakhi.

The festival of Vaisakhi, when farmers traditionally give thanks for their harvests, takes place on Saturday, April 13.

Vaisakhi is one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar.

The occasion, which dates back more than 300 years, not only celebrates the Sikh New Year and harvest but also commemorates the establishment of the sacred Khalsa ceremony in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh, when Sikhism was transformed.

At the East Park Road temple, in Leicester, which is attended by up to 25,000 visitors each week, there will be a food drive for the British Red Cross, Fareshare and Leicester's Dawn Centre homeless shelter.

Temple secretary Surinderpal Singh Rai said: "This is a new thing this year, and we're doing it because it's needed in this economic climate.

"Our temple has a kitchen that serves free food to a few hundred needy people each week, so we see the increasing importance of this sort of help.

"Our food drive will just be for packaged, non-perishable things such as rice, beans and cereal, as well as toiletries such as toothpaste and toothbrushes.

"I know our community here will be very generous. I'm sure we'll get items worth a total of several thousand pounds."

The temple, which is known as the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, will be holding the food drive in partnership with Oadby Gurdwara.

As well as worshipping, Vaisakhi is a time of the year when selfless service is encouraged.

Simone Connolly, Fareshare's project manager for Leicestershire, said: "This will make a big difference as the food will be distributed to our community groups who help almost 2,000 of the most deprived people in the county.

"We are also very keen to engage with the different communities in Leicestershire, so we're happy to be working with the Sikh temples."

During the food drive, a marquee will be set up as a collection point, outside the East Park Road temple. Food will be collected between 9am and 4pm.

For religious reasons, donations should not include any meat, eggs or alcohol.

The food drive comes the weekend before Leicester's Vaisakhi parade, which will see thousands of Sikhs from across the region joining a colourful parade from Holy Bones, in the city centre, to the East Park Road temple.

It will take place on Sunday, April 21.

Mr Singh Rai said: "I'd expect between 15,000 and 20,000 people will attend, depending on the weather.

"We've had a few wet and cold years recently but on a good day the event gets up to 35,000 people."

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY CONFERENCE AT CHRISTCHURCH, CLARENDON PARK

At ChristChurch Clarendon Park for an evening conference on Food Sovereignty, jointly hosted by Christians Aware and the Leicester branch of the World Development Movement, with support from Leicester Friends of the Earth.

There are over 40 people in the room when Barbara Butler (Executive Secretary of Christians Aware) opens the meeting. She and Amanda Fitton (Office Manager at Christians Aware in Saxby Street) have been here since early afternoon, laying out displays and setting up the room.

The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. Commonly, the concept of food security is defined as including both physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs as well as their food preferences. In many countries, health problems related to dietary excess are an ever increasing threat. Food security is built on three pillars:

• Food availability: sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis.
• Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
• Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation.

Food security is a complex sustainable development issue, linked to health through malnutrition, but also to sustainable economic development, environment, and trade. There is a great deal of debate around food security with some arguing that there is enough food in the world to feed everyone adequately and that the problem is one of distribution.

FareShare Leicester

Peter and Sheila Yates (n that order - right and centre in the photo above) speak first, about FareShare Leicester. The dual objectives of FairShare Leicester are, "fighting hunger, tackling food waste". In the world today, there are one billion malnourished people. All the world's hungry could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food wasted in the US and Europe. Globally, 50% of food is wasted between farm and fork.

Peter presents some stats, setting the scene for FairShare's work, helping us understand and appreciate its importance. 

• 1 in 10 people in the UK cannot afford a healthy diet.
• 1 in 7 people over the age of 65 are at serious risk of malnourishment
• 6.7 million people in the UK are affected by low income - perhaps the most critical factor leading to food poverty.
• 5% of adults in the UK cannot afford fresh fruit daily
• 5% of mothers go without food to meet the needs of their children
• 5% of teenagers experience homelessness and are reliant on day centres or soup runs for basic food needs
• 25% of households in the UK live on less than £135 a week
• Food prices have risen 12% in real terms over the last five years
• All foods have risen in price since 2007, with rises ranging from 17% to 36%
• Processed foods have risen the most (30%) since June 2007, with a 15% rise in the year to June 2012
• Fruit prices have risen the second most, by 34% since June 2007, rising steadily each year
• The bread and cereal products thrown away in the UK is enough to lift 30 million people out of malnourishment
• Estimated total UK food and drink waste is around 15 million metric tonnes per year, with households generating 7.2 metric tonnes per year, of which 4.4 metric tonnes is avoidable

This is just some of the evidence Peter offers us. He says a lot more, but I promised him I wouldn't give away the whole of his act. We in the audience would have felt that these things are true, without necessarily having the facts at our fingertips. When we see the figures, it is horrifying. Of course, Peter and Sheila don't just leave us in that condition, but offer ways for us to help FareShare Leicester make a difference to those who so desperately need help.

World Development Movement
The second presentation is made for the World Development Movement by Dan Isles (on the left in the photo above). Dan is a Campaigner in their Food Team, working to abolish food speculation and to build up the UK Food Sovereignty Movement. Dan has had a lot of experience of the food movement. In Bristol he co-founded a social enterprise to tackle food waste, helped set up a community garden and had a go at establishing a community-owned food co-op. He was part of the UK delegation to the Food Sovereignty event in Austria in 2011 and has been heavily involved in the UK scene since then.

If Peter and Sheila's talk focused on issues of food security in relation to people in this country, for the most part consumers - and wasters - of food, then Dan's talk (entitled "Transforming Our Food System: The Movement for Food Sovereignty") could be said to consider the impacts of the same changing economic factors on people overseas, mostly the producers of the food we consume - and waste.

Almost every event I attend that's sponsored by Christians Aware leaves me feeling as if I've been duffed up. To say that this brief evening conference gave us al food for thought would be low punning of an order that even I would eschew. But it's hard to say just how this makes me feel as I set off into the chill night air. Thank goodness for committed, competent and confident activists; if not for them, where would we be?