Anti-poverty charities team up
The UK’s largest provider of foodbanks the Trussell Trust has formally joined forces with debt charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP), it has been announced
The Trussell Trust already works with debt advice agency Community Money Advice (CMA), and this agreement with CAP provides "further opportunity to seek long-term solutions for families", the organisations said in a statement.
Debt and low income are among the most common causes of hunger in the UK, according to the Trussell Trust.
Adrian Curtis, Foodbank Network Director for The Trussell Trust said, 'We know that thousands of families are going hungry every year because of issues like debt – that’s why foodbanks in our network offer support beyond emergency food, signposting to local agencies to help people tackle the roots of their crisis.
'We know that people who visit foodbanks often have a range of complex needs and we’re delighted to now be formally linked with CAP, as well as CMA, to ensure these most vulnerable people get the invaluable support these charities can offer.
'This new agreement means it will be even more easy for people with debt, unemployment, or budgeting problems to find a more positive future.'
Matt Barlow, Chief Executive of CAP said, 'Every person crippled by grinding poverty deserves us to be working together to find solutions and that is why today marks a huge step forward for the most vulnerable in the UK.
'Many of our partner churches are already helping their communities by running a Trussell Trust foodbank alongside a CAP centre so there’s a natural crossover and makes total sense for our organisations to now be formally linked.
'We are looking forward to seeing foodbanks and CAP centres around the UK working together to provide hope and solutions to help people stay out of crisis.'
Around 1 in 12 referrals are due to debt, but this does not take into account debts arising as a result of benefits issues, which continue to be the most likely reason a person is referred to a Trussell Trust foodbank. From April 2015 to March 2016, Trussell Trust foodbanks provided 1,109,309 three day emergency food supplies to people in crisis.
A CAP survey of 1,200 debt clients showed 93 per cent were able to feed their family following debt counselling advice from the charity. In recent years CAP has focused on the causes of poverty, providing not just 306 debt centres but 169 job clubs, hundreds of money management courses, CAP Release Groups for people to break addictive behaviours and the latest addition, CAP Life Skills, to help people live well on a budget. CAP helped more than 21,000 people during 2016.
Baptist Times, 15/02/2017