Food bank Britain: To pay their bills, people just starve

9 Dec 2012 15:51

Shocking figures reveal more than 30,000 seek help from food charity everyday



Inundated: One of Fareshare's food depot in London

Sunday Mirror

Around 10 million emergency meals will be provided to people struggling to feed themselves by the end of the year.

Shocking figures from the charity FareShare reveal that an average of 36,500 people nationwide seek help from the service every day.

FareShare collects surplus food from supermarkets and shops and distributes it through 720 charities and organisations to needy families and individuals.

Chief executive Lindsay Boswell said that more and more people in regular employment can't afford food due to rising bills.

"People who in the past have been too proud and had just about managed to make ends meet have now been tipped over the edge," he said.

"It is not uncommon for people to be reaching out for help while they still have employment.

"If money is tight you can't not pay your rent or your mortgage or your utility bills. If you don't pay them they get cut off and your family are out on the street. But the thing people can control is what you eat. There are a lot of stories of families when one of the adults will skip a meal to make sure the children have got food. Feeding yourself suddenly becomes discretionary, which is shocking."

Latest figures from FareShare, which has 18 depots and distributes 20,000 tonnes of food a year, reveal that in 2011 8.6 million emergency meals were distributed. Mr Boswell said the figure for 2012 is expected to hit 10 million.

He revealed how one family with two children, helped last Christmas Eve, had just one egg left in their food cupboard.

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Food bank Britain: Shocking figures reveal more than 30,000 seek help from food charity everyday - Mirror Online