This is what we the 'great UK' are reduced to!
Soup kitchens!!!
Not sure if i would have the time to volunteer in one but I have the experience - see how it goes.
It just makes me feel so sad to read all this below.
We've approved £528,550 to work in partnership with a range of agencies to find sustainable solutions to food poverty and develop projects that are already working well.
Over the past year more than 21,500 Derbyshire residents were fed by emergency food parcels − an under-representation as only 16 of the county's 22 food banks regularly supply monitoring data.
The main reasons were found to be benefit delays, benefit changes and low incomes.
Our Cabinet Member for Health and Communities Councillor Dave Allen said:
"It's shocking to think that one in 36 Derbyshire residents have been forced to visit a food bank over the past year and the main reason is benefit changes and delays.
"We already invest in food banks and breakfast clubs, we're growing the economy, supporting people into work and helping them with benefits advice, but food poverty has become a public health priority and immediate action is needed.
"Lack of proper nutrition affects physical and mental health and particularly affects vulnerable residents such as children, pregnant women and people who need to eat before taking their medicines.
"In the long term this will cause huge pressures on health and social care costs so there is an economic as well as a moral case for us to take preventative action to address food poverty. We believe doing nothing is not an option.
"The funding we've approved today is pump-priming money making the best use of our resources by working with the voluntary sector to help them develop sustainable projects to prevent our residents ending up in a situation where they're having to rely on an emergency food parcel."
The funding approved by our Cabinet today (Tuesday 28 July) will pay for:
Provision of a Fareshare depot in Derbyshire - up to £65,000 in year one and £48,000 in years two and three: Fareshare is a charity which accepts perishable food such as fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy produce and meat from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away. Food banks can subscribe to Fareshare and take what they require as often as necessary. We have identified a suitable depot near J29a of the M1 and funding would pay for running costs including rent and staffing.
Fareshare subscriptions for food banks - £20,000: Support to help food banks, which all operate as very small enterprises, to afford the £500 to £1,200 Fareshare subscription fee for one year giving them time to raise funds for subsequent years.
Breakfast clubs - £30,000 a year: We have funded breakfast clubs in 24 schools with the highest number of children receiving free school meals since 2013 which has been shown to improve pupils' learning and behaviour. Fareshare may be able to provide breakfast foods to schools at a lower cost allowing clubs to become financially sustainable and allowing us to extend the scheme to more schools.
Super Kitchens or food hubs − £8,000 for two in each borough and district: Super Kitchen originated in Nottingham and uses Fareshare food and local volunteers to cook and provide nutritious meals at a cost of £1 to £2. In Derbyshire venues could include children's centres, churches and schools and could also offer cooking skills.
Social supermarkets or community shops - £52,000 in years one and two and £26,000 in year three: These shops sell food with damaged packaging or incorrect labelling rejected by supermarkets. Customers must be in receipt of means-tested benefits and pay a small amount for their purchases to overcome the stigma of receiving 'charity' which food banks report many people are uncomfortable with.
An affordable food box scheme - £20,000 in years one and two and £10,000 in year three: The scheme uses locally produced and Fareshare food to offer a low cost home delivery scheme. It links in with 'grow your own' schemes and allotments to make the best use of locally sourced produce along with surplus from the private sector. It would cover areas of greatest social need before extending to cover as much of the county as possible.
Mapping of community food outlets - £4,000: Research to ensure new projects are developed in areas with gaps in community food provision.
His Church - £1,500 for 10 pallets: His Church negotiates for trading standards teams to donate the counterfeit goods they seize to charity. His Church provides pallets of these goods, including non-perishable food, toiletries and clothes, and would deliver them to a Derbyshire Fareshare depot to be shared between the county's food bank network.
All costs are estimates and following today's approval further work will now be carried out to refine them.
We're also supporting Rural Action Derbyshire's multi-agency partnership application to the Department of Health's Innovation Fund for almost £600,000 which would pay for the projects in place of our funding which would then be retained.
Today's Cabinet approval will allow the projects to get started without delay as the outcome of the Government bid will not be known until later this year and may not be successful.
Since 2013 we've approved £246,487 to support the county's food banks to allow them to feed more people as demand grows.
The situation reflects the national picture researched by leading food bank charity the Trussell Trust which shows a 19% increase in food bank use between 2014 and 2015.
Derbyshire food banks used our grants to cover costs including management, administration and IT, premises, storage, insurance, transport, vehicles, fuel, running costs, recruitment, staff and volunteer training.
Topic: Derbyshire to tackle food poverty (Read 1072 times)