Latest news with #foodpoverty
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Worcester foodbank manager hits out at two-child benefit cap
A foodbank manager has criticised the UK's two-child benefit cap and said many families in Worcester are struggling with food Lucas, manager of Worcester Foodbank, spoke out as 11 charities including the national foodbank charity, Trussell, wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging her to make a commitment in next week's spending review to abolish the said in Worcester "an awful lot of families just haven't got sufficient money" to pay for household Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which said it was "determined to bring down child poverty", is expected to announce its decision on the cap in autumn. The letter sent by the charities to the chancellor claimed the two-child limit has pulled 37,000 children into poverty since the government took office. 'Cap exacerbates poverty' "The cap was not the right thing to be doing. It hits families unfairly and just causes them more problems with poverty, and particularly food poverty," Mr Lucas continued."We see at ground level and particularly see it in Worcester, a large number of families that are struggling, families that don't have enough income."The two-child benefit cap just exacerbates that and causes more families to be in food poverty and… roughly 40% of the people we feed are children."Mr Lucas said rising food costs had been a key problem and the cost-of-living crisis generally had caused more people to seek BBC has approached the DWP for a response to Mr Lucas's comments. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Food waste charity celebrates one-year milestone
A food waste charity has celebrated one year of operations from its Surrey warehouse. FareShare Sussex & Surrey (FSSS), which collects and distributes surplus food to charities and community groups, marked the first delivery from its Guildford facility in June 2024. It comes amid Volunteers' Week, an annual UK-wide campaign to recognise the contribution of volunteers to the country. FSSS, which started operations 23 years ago, says each year it delivers 2.14 million meals, supporting around 17,000 people a week at risk of food poverty. It expanded by opening its Guildford depot last Turner, one of FSSS' 170 volunteers, told the BBC she wanted to join the charity to fight against food waste and poverty. "I had seen quite a lot in the news about people not having a lot to eat and food just rotting and thought - how do you help that," she added. Ms Turner, who works as an assistant in the Guildford warehouse six hours a week, said her job involves "helping with whatever needs doing on a given day".This could involve allocating food into 10kg trays or sorting through "huge amounts of apples or carrots", she added. But Ms Turner added there was "lots of time for laughing and chatting" with her colleagues. FSSS chief executive Dan Slatter previously said the charity was opening the Surrey facility to "meet growing demand" in the county.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
TV chef Rosemary Shrager starts 450-mile charity bike challenge
TV chef Rosemary Shrager has begun a 450-mile bike challenge to raise money for food poverty 74-year-old started her journey on Sunday at Land's End in Cornwall and plans to cycle through Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and West Sussex to reach the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent by 18 is aiming to raise at least £100,000 for the Hendry Foundation, which will give all of the money received to food poverty and food welfare charities in the south of chef said: "I visited a foodbank in Hastings and I was really, really upset and I thought, 'this is not fair, we need to do something to help'." The chef, who had to relearn how to ride a bike for the challenge, said: "I've been wanting to do this cycle challenge for more than five years and at last I have found a wonderful group of people who believe in me."It has been quite a journey so far, but I'm proud to be doing this challenge for such a worthy cause that is so close to my heart."On designated rest days, Shrager will do live cooking demonstrations and give talks, including at Kingstanding Business Park in Tunbridge Wells on 16 will also be visiting charities that will benefit from her Two Wheels for Meals fundraiser. Rebecca Hendy, chairperson and trustee of the Hendy Foundation, said Shrager's determination was "truly inspiring"."It's wonderful to see her so committed to making a difference to such an important cause that sadly affects millions of people," she has featured in cookery shows and reality TV programmes, including Ladette to Lady, The Real Marigold Hotel, Royal Upstairs Downstairs and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.Since it launched, the Hendy Foundation has given more than £350,000 to almost 250 charities in communities local to Hendy Group car dealerships across Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘We trusted them': East End fishmongers take on the City to save ancient markets
It is a mismatched contest: a handful of east London fishmongers taking on the phenomenally wealthy City of London Corporation. But the market traders and a food poverty charity have teamed up to battle City of London Corporation over its plans to close the capital's ancient fish and meat markets for good. The corporation announced the permanent closure of London's historic Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market in late 2024, when it pulled the plug on a planned £1bn relocation to a new sitein the east of the capital at Dagenham. The decision means the end of centuries of meat and fish trading in the capital. Three fishmongers from Ridley Road market in Hackney say they depend on Billingsgate for their business and will go bust if it closes down. Along with their spokesperson Alicia Weston, the founder of Bags of Taste, which teaches cooking skills to people living in poverty, they are fighting to stop parliament from rubber stamping the markets' closure. The corporation, the governing body that runs London's Square Mile, is the owner and operator of both sites, but is not permitted to close down the markets independently. A quirk of their long and storied pasts, the markets were established by acts of parliament that fix them to the existing sites. This means they can only be closed when parliament passes a private bill, repealing the legislation and allowing the land to be used for other purposes. The markets have been granted a stay of execution until 2028. In the meantime, the corporation has said it is offering compensation to Smithfield and Billingsgate traders and is helping them find new locations, but is no longer planning to build a joint replacement site. Fishmongers Waheed Aslam, Zafar Iqbal and Mohammed Amjad Choudry have objected to the bill, and they say they have the support of a small group of MPs who are opposed to the closure. The Mediterranean fish shop on Ridley Road was started 30 years ago by Aslam's father. Aslam and his business partner Aras Swara, visit Billingsgate market, the UK's largest inland fish market, early in the morning, five days a week, to choose fresh sea bream, snapper, salmon and coley for the shop. 'At the market we can choose what we buy, if there's no market, those who are selling will have a monopoly,' said Aslam. 'If there is no Billingsgate, we can't get all this variety,' added Swara, gesturing to a chest freezer containing 13 different types of frozen prawns. Aslam has previously tried buying from wholesalers, but said he was not able to buy the required quantity of fish, or was disappointed by the quality. 'We supply quite a few restaurants around the area, and it would affect them too if the market closes,' he added, as his two employees gutted and cleaned sea bass ordered by a local Caribbean restaurant. The history of a food market around Smithfield – close to Farringdon train station – goes back more than 800 years. The London Museum is in the process of moving to part of the site, which is intended to become a cultural development. Billingsgate, which was moved in 1982 from a City location by the river to a building near the Canary Wharf financial district, has been earmarked for housing. The volumes of meat and fish traded at Smithfield and Billingsgate have fallen significantly since their peak around the turn of the 20th century amid the rise of supermarkets, according to an independent report on the importance of food markets commissioned by the corporation after its decision not to build the Dagenham site. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Despite this, the report found that Smithfield and Billingsgate 'play a vital role in supporting independent retailers, such as butchers and fishmongers' and estimated Billingsgate still accounts for 9%-11% of fish consumption in London and the south-east. The corporation scrapped plans to relocate both markets, along with the New Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market, to a purpose-built complex at Dagenham Dock, saying inflation and rising construction costs had made the project unaffordable. The corporation manages assets worth billions of pounds, and collects £1.3bn in business rates annually, although it passes most of this to central government. The fishmongers and Weston are calling on the corporation to find an alternative location for the markets. 'We trusted them and believed it was going to open in Dagenham, but they broke that trust,' said Weston. 'There are unintended consequences of the closure.' A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said the authority is 'actively supporting the traders at Billingsgate and Smithfield to find new sites for their wholesale activity within the M25. This includes practical support, such as brokering discussions with landowners and developers, and assisting a smooth transition'. 'We just want assurance that an alternative market will be opened,' said Aslam. 'We have a livelihood on the line. We are at the bottom of the chain and have not been given much thought about.'
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Mazi Project: Food poverty charity struggling to keep up with demand
Bosses at a food poverty charity say they are struggling to keep up for demand as they launch their largest-ever fundraising MAZI Project is aiming to raise £35,000 to support young people's mental health through healthy food. Since launching in 2021, it has delivered more than 120,000 meals. Student Mary Gurdin said the charity, which provides meal kit service with fresh ingredients and a cook book, helped her navigate an eating disorder. She said: "Before the MAZI project, I wouldn't buy food as I got very anxious going to shops. Now I'm cooking a meal every evening and I've cooked things I'd never considered eating." Ms Gurdin, who is studying English Literature at the University of West England, said the charity has had a "massive" impact on her life."I'd been a vegan for nine years and never had lentils – now I eat lentils all the time," she 24-year-old, who lives in supported accommodation in Downend, now receives a box from the project every two weeks instead of weekly, due to the charity's funding shortfall."It needs more funding," she said. "I'm worried about the other service users and food poverty in general."Hopefully people will see how important it is," she added. The charity has supported more than 350 marginalised people aged 16-25, including care leavers, young asylum seekers and those facing homelessness over four years. They currently have 30 young people on their waiting list, but say they desperately need more the food in meal kits is locally sourced, and the idea is to introduce people to new ingredients and build confidence in the kitchen. Melanie Vaxevanakis, who founded the project, urged people to join the charity in "making nutritious food accessible to all young people".Ms Vaxevanakis, who grew up in Athens, said there needs to be "systemic change" around creating a fairer food said: "There needs to be much more thoughtful and intention around planning in areas of deprivation. "Limiting the number of takeaway and ultra processed foods and making sure those are replaced with greengrocers or places they can access fresh and nourishing ingredients."She added: "There needs to be a real change and investment in trying to create a much fairer system for everyone."The project also run an education and events programme - including a four-week cooking course which leads to a Life Skills fundraiser is finishing on Wednesday to mark World Hunger Day.
