A Bermondsey food bank set up in lockdown wants to find a bigger building, as with furlough ending and universal credit going down this week it could be facing higher demand.
The government temporarily boosted universal credit by £20 per week in lockdown, but this is set to end on Wednesday (October 6) although. The furlough scheme to support companies through lockdown also came to a close at the end of September. National insurance payments are also set to increase from next April, to help fund the NHS and the care system.
All this means that food banks like Love North Southwark could have a lot more people coming in to get food, said Kathy Heather, who runs the service.
Love North Southwark, which Kathy set up at the start of the first lockdown, is currently running from two rooms in Cherry Garden Hall, where Southwark Park Road meets Jamaica Road. People can come and get fifteen items for £5, including fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, dairy products frozen foods, and cupboard items. The centre also sends out food parcels.
But they have to clear up so other activities can take place in the hall on the days when the food bank isn’t running.
Kathy wants to move to a vacant shop nearby so they can operate more easily and also put on bingo nights and dances – but the cost of refurbishment might be too high. She is looking to apply for grants that could cover the costs.
“It’s about community as well as food,” she said. “A lot of people come in here partly because they need a human connection, especially with the isolation we’ve had over the lockdowns.”
The drop-off in Universal Credit could mean a “tough winter ahead”, Conservative business minister Kwasi Kwarteng warned last month. He told the BBC that the government had spent a huge amount of money on the temporary increase, adding that “there was a debate about how long we could afford this.” Charity Citizens Advice said that a third of people on Universal Credit could end up in debt when their benefits decrease.
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Labour has called for the cut to be halted, with shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Bridget Phillipson telling Parliament in September that the government has “created an avoidable and unacceptable burden on working people”.
Local MP Neil Coyle went for a tour of Love North Southwark’s operations with Kathy on Friday (October 1) and said that Labour “exist to try and remove demand for food banks and end the need for food banks.”
He added: “Whilst its great and brilliant that [the food bank is] here and the model is brilliant, to have this additional support for people who are feeling the squeeze is brilliant – but fundamentally the system is broken. Low incomes need tackling and the benefits system needs to be fixed.
“Instead of fixing it, the government is taking twenty quid a week off people very soon.”