Red Cross to start first Britain food aid since WWII


The Red Cross is to start first Britain food aid since the Second World War.

Sat Oct 12, 2013 6:54PM GMT

The Red Cross is to collect and distribute food aid in Britain this winter for the first time since the Second World War to help growing number of Britons in need.

British Red Cross will send volunteers to supermarkets in the UK on the last weekend in November to ask shoppers to donate items which are planned to be distributed among food banks through the charity Fareshare, The Independent reported.

Juliet Mountford, the Red Cross head of UK Service Development, said the charity’s intervention was because of "strong evidence of an increased need for support on food poverty issues".

This comes as the Red Cross said on Thursday that the financial crisis in Europe has left 43 million of its citizens with insufficient food to eat, calling it the worst humanitarian crisis over a half century.

A report by the Geneva-based charity showed that some 120 million Europeans face the risk of poverty and many continue to suffer in countries that are in the process of recovering financially.

Earlier in May, figures from the Trussell Trust, the largest food bank provider in the UK, showed that more than 500,000 Britons needed emergency food aid last year.

The charity Citizens Advice also said there has been an "alarming" 78 percent increase in the number of food bank inquiries across Britain during the six months to August.

SSM/HE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10...t-uk-food-aid/