Guarantee Our Essentials heads to Westminster
18 June 2025
Approximately 2.9 million emergency food parcels were issued in the past twelve months according to the Trussell Trust.
As hundreds of people from across the UK head to Parliament to call on MPs to back the Essentials Guarantee, Worthing Homes resident Steve Southwell blogs about what he sees locally. The blog brings a personal resident perspective to campaigning led by Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trussell Trust calling on the government to ensure that Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials.
Steve blogs: “Foodbanks were literally the bread and butter to survival for many people during the Covid pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis. But we are now beyond crisis point. The figures show that approximately 2.9 million emergency food parcels were issued in the past twelve months according to the Trussell Trust.
That’s the equivalent of one parcel every 11 seconds. The figures are beyond belief - for those aged over 65 there has been an astonishing increase of 236%, most likely down to the removal of the winter fuel payments. The money has to come from somewhere. 72% of referrals to the Trussell Trust have come from those with income or debt issues.
emh resident Leanne Peat takes the message to Westminster in November 2024
The cost of living has risen. The cost of everyday essentials has increased. Demand for social housing is “through the roof”. More and more people are coming to realise that they can ask for help. We are told “it’s okay not to be okay” and that support is out there. And as people realise that they are in a downward financial spiral, struggling to get just one step up out of their debt situation and from poverty, they are indeed asking for help. Help from foodbanks.
I went to Worthing Homes’ community house last week, and was told that what I could see was what they had. All stocks had been issued and only the minimum essentials were left. Shops are trying to avoid waste, which has a knock-on effect on foodbanks, reducing the number of items donated. There is now a reliance on those who do manage to get by to donate to foodbanks, whatever they can, just to help bump up stocks. Our foodbanks are almost in crisis themselves.
And because more people are using them, but not necessarily as a means to just get by. I’ve personally seen people using them to help sustain a basic standard of living, or even to help contribute to a week away for respite or just quality family time. By reducing their weekly shop through support of food banks, a family can put by a few extra pounds towards a family trip or a few away days, easing the burden on their mental health and general well-being.
And that’s without the potential impact of the disability benefits reform, which will see even more people needing the support of a foodbank. What condition is our country in when we predict disabled people having to rely on foodbanks? It’s a hard enough struggle being disabled without having our benefits cut, potentially leaving us without housekeeping support or care.
But that’s a separate issue…
Last week's Spending Review gives some hope for people on the housing waiting list, but we need to extend the same hope to people who are struggling to get by, which is why campaigns like Guarantee our Essential remain so important.