MFB
BANK NEWS FOR MFB SUPPORTERS
Dear Friends,
It was inspiring to visit the MFB depot again this week and see how generous are the donations and how hard and cheerfully the volunteers work to deal with them..
Inspiring too to find out that some work in a similar way with church groups in trying to alleviate the plight of refugees in Turkey and in Thailand when having time off, away from Teesside..
1) FOOD BANKS made it to No. 1 as a news item on Channel 4 this week....
You may have heard in the news this week that a 3 year study by the Trussell Trust, under whose auspices 2 out of 3 UK food banks operate, revealed that 94% of people seeking help are destitute.
Commissioned by the Trussell Trust and conducted by Heriot-Watt University, State of Hunger 2019 is the most authoritative piece of independent research into hunger in the UK to date. It reveals the average weekly income of people at food banks is only £50 after paying rent,* and almost one in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food.
• 94% of people at food banks are destitute
• Almost three-quarters of people at food banks live in households affected by ill-health or disability
• 22% of people at food banks are single parents – compared to 5% in the UK population**
• More than three-quarters of people referred to food banks were in arrears.
2) A children’s book about food banks is a grim sign of our failure as a society
Please read below a short extract from a longer Guardian article this week by Aditya Chakraborrty.
‘I have just read a beautiful book about something truly obscene. Full of lovely pictures and occasional bits of text, it’s the kind you might read with your four-year-old. It shows a little girl and her mum as they visit a food bank.
It’s a No-Money Day is narrated by the daughter who sees how her mother worries over every penny, while shielding her from the painful stuff. “There’s no more cereal, so I have the last piece of toast. Luckily Mum isn’t hungry,” the girl says; and you know the biggest thing Mum will have for breakfast is her own little white lie. When they reach the food bank, the child tucks into biscuits and squash while her mother sags like a balloon from which the air has escaped.
Only just published, it is believed to be the UK’s first picture book about food banks. And, while the subject has been handled compassionately by the prize-winning author Kate Milner, I can’t help but see that landmark as a disgrace – for all of us. It is the watershed moment when Britain’s food banks go from newspaper headlines to a subject that teachers cover in classrooms; the moment at which mass destitution is no longer a badge of political failure but is instead accepted as part of British life.'
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE MFB AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, AND REMEMBER, DONATIONS OF CASH ARE MUCH-NEEDED TOO AND ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!
Thank you, Eve and David xx
The parish continues to support the Middlesbrough Food Bank by being the 'Link' or collection point for food and other items ranging from toiletries to dog food and baby food, which is then delivered direct to the depot at Middlesbrough every 4 or 5 weeks.
These come from parishes, both Anglican and Catholic, in Gilling, Oswaldkirk, Ampleforth, of course, and from St John's, Easingwold, as well as from individuals.
We have been supporting Middlesbrough Foodbank since Jan.'13, because it is one of the poorest areas in the country, especially for child poverty, and also has a large number of migrants and asylum seekers.
It seems to be a way of making a very small contribution to the needs of our 'friends' on Teesside compared with the dedicated efforts of volunteers at the Foodbank, the drop-in centres, and other charities and volunteer groups working to support those in dire need just an hour away from us, over the moors.
Please see the parish newsletter for an update on delivery dates and most-needed items.
Donations can be left at the back of the church in the boxes provided. You will also find lists and copies of the latest parish MFB update on the table there too.
For more information or if you'd like to get involved, please give us a ring on..01653 628755, or e-mail us at : evecraggjames@gmail.com
You might also consult the MFB website: middlesbrough.foodbank.org.uk
Eve and David
Dear Friends,
It was inspiring to visit the MFB depot again this week and see how generous are the donations and how hard and cheerfully the volunteers work to deal with them..
Inspiring too to find out that some work in a similar way with church groups in trying to alleviate the plight of refugees in Turkey and in Thailand when having time off, away from Teesside..
1) FOOD BANKS made it to No. 1 as a news item on Channel 4 this week....
You may have heard in the news this week that a 3 year study by the Trussell Trust, under whose auspices 2 out of 3 UK food banks operate, revealed that 94% of people seeking help are destitute.
Commissioned by the Trussell Trust and conducted by Heriot-Watt University, State of Hunger 2019 is the most authoritative piece of independent research into hunger in the UK to date. It reveals the average weekly income of people at food banks is only £50 after paying rent,* and almost one in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food.
• 94% of people at food banks are destitute
• Almost three-quarters of people at food banks live in households affected by ill-health or disability
• 22% of people at food banks are single parents – compared to 5% in the UK population**
• More than three-quarters of people referred to food banks were in arrears.
2) A children’s book about food banks is a grim sign of our failure as a society
Please read below a short extract from a longer Guardian article this week by Aditya Chakraborrty.
‘I have just read a beautiful book about something truly obscene. Full of lovely pictures and occasional bits of text, it’s the kind you might read with your four-year-old. It shows a little girl and her mum as they visit a food bank.
It’s a No-Money Day is narrated by the daughter who sees how her mother worries over every penny, while shielding her from the painful stuff. “There’s no more cereal, so I have the last piece of toast. Luckily Mum isn’t hungry,” the girl says; and you know the biggest thing Mum will have for breakfast is her own little white lie. When they reach the food bank, the child tucks into biscuits and squash while her mother sags like a balloon from which the air has escaped.
Only just published, it is believed to be the UK’s first picture book about food banks. And, while the subject has been handled compassionately by the prize-winning author Kate Milner, I can’t help but see that landmark as a disgrace – for all of us. It is the watershed moment when Britain’s food banks go from newspaper headlines to a subject that teachers cover in classrooms; the moment at which mass destitution is no longer a badge of political failure but is instead accepted as part of British life.'
PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE MFB AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, AND REMEMBER, DONATIONS OF CASH ARE MUCH-NEEDED TOO AND ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!
Thank you, Eve and David xx
The parish continues to support the Middlesbrough Food Bank by being the 'Link' or collection point for food and other items ranging from toiletries to dog food and baby food, which is then delivered direct to the depot at Middlesbrough every 4 or 5 weeks.
These come from parishes, both Anglican and Catholic, in Gilling, Oswaldkirk, Ampleforth, of course, and from St John's, Easingwold, as well as from individuals.
We have been supporting Middlesbrough Foodbank since Jan.'13, because it is one of the poorest areas in the country, especially for child poverty, and also has a large number of migrants and asylum seekers.
It seems to be a way of making a very small contribution to the needs of our 'friends' on Teesside compared with the dedicated efforts of volunteers at the Foodbank, the drop-in centres, and other charities and volunteer groups working to support those in dire need just an hour away from us, over the moors.
Please see the parish newsletter for an update on delivery dates and most-needed items.
Donations can be left at the back of the church in the boxes provided. You will also find lists and copies of the latest parish MFB update on the table there too.
For more information or if you'd like to get involved, please give us a ring on..01653 628755, or e-mail us at : evecraggjames@gmail.com
You might also consult the MFB website: middlesbrough.foodbank.org.uk
Eve and David