I want to start by saying Eid Mubarak to Muslims in Southwark, Lambeth and across London. I hope Ramadan was reflective and peaceful for you.
I was privileged to attend the Grand Iftar at Southwark Cathedral which was a fantastic experience. It was a chance for the community to come together, old and young, of all faiths and none.
It was good to hear from the Dean of Southwark Cathedral, Andrew Nunn and many others. Thank you to Living Bankside and young people from Southwark for organising the event.
Dean of Southwark hosts final grand Iftar at Cathedral before retirement
This year was very special. During this last month, Muslims have celebrated Ramadan and Eid, Jewish people celebrated Passover and Christians celebrated Easter, this only happens three times every century and I feel privileged to have witnessed it this year and to see all communities from our amazing diverse city enjoying these celebrations.
Following on from my report, Growing Hungry, I recently held a roundtable event at City Hall for a number of stakeholders, to discuss the ongoing cost of living crisis and the impact it is having on different groups across London. With food inflation still on the rise, rents still soaring and little to no support from the Government, not much has changed in the months since my initial report.
We had a number of speakers and guests from organisations such as Gingerbread, London Youth, Bromley Mobility Forum and Scope who discussed the impact the crisis is having on Young Londoners, disabled people, families and single parents.
It was a constructive discussion with lots of ideas and suggestions as to what the Government can do to support these groups, and what more can be done from City Hall too.
The event was closed by Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Debbie Weekes-Bernard.
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With food inflation still above 17%, having risen at the fastest rate in over 45 years, the financial situation is still dire for many low-income Londoners and the need of support has not gone away. Despite the Government’s sticking plaster one-off payments, inflation is still set to rise, and Londoners need longer term solutions to bring down their bills.
New figures from the Trussell Trust show that they gave out nearly 3 million food parcels in the space of a year, with a million children living in households receiving them.
These stark numbers show how much more needs to be done to support low-income Londoners.