Grimsby foodbank fears over food supplies

The Rock Foundation are appealing for donations as the Universal Credit cut brings in more people

Author: Rebecca QuarmbyPublished 6th Oct 2021
Last updated 6th Oct 2021

People in Grimsby fear they're not going to be able to afford to live during the winter months.

It's as the temporary £20 Universal credit weekly allowance will be taken away for those who claimed it through the pandemic.

The Prime Minister is due to address the Tory conference today, at a time of when the cost of living is rising.

Susan Calvert -visits the Rock Foundation foodbank twice a week, she said:

“We barely manage with gas and electric as it is, sometime we go without. So if they’re cutting my benefits then I don’t know how I’m going to cope with it. Last winter we struggled and didn’t always have gas so we had blankets.”

Staff at the Rock Foundation say the £20 weekly cut in Universal Credit, alongside energy price rises, and a lack of delivery vehicles are leaving their shelves at risk of being empty.

Pam Hodge runs the foodbank, she said:

“We’re already starting to see a slight increase so we are monitoring that. It is going to make an impact on food provision. With the lorry situation we're not getting probably as much as what we would have done in the past from the supermarket so we're not getting as much as we as we were before so that's already having impact on us as well.

“We have been trying to be careful over the past few months, where we’ve had fresh fruit and veg come in, we’ve kept our tins to one side so that we've got some back up there but it's going to be very difficult to and we're just going to have to all pulling together.”

For more information on donations, you can visit: https://rockfoundation.org.uk/

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