Every day at Wandsworth Foodbank we’re meeting people and families at the sharpest end of the cost of living crisis, who can’t afford to top-up their gas and electricity prepayment meters.
Some families have told us they’re living in just one room of their home, to economise on the cost of heat and light. Many people are being really careful about what they take from the food bank, to ensure they can cook food as quickly and efficiently as possible.
We’re meeting people who are in the middle of cancer treatment, or caring for family members who are terminally ill, who desperately need to be able to put the heating on to stay warm. For these people who can’t work at the moment, benefit payments simply don’t cover the cost of essentials like rent, energy bills and food (and it’s why it’s vital the government increases benefits in line with inflation – they’re simply too low to survive on at the moment).
All of this is why we’re so grateful to everyone who has given so generously to our new Warmer Winter appeal so far. In just two weeks, local people have given an amazing £9,000 to this appeal. Thank you.
Your generosity in sharing what you have with others who have less is already making a real difference. With our friends at Thinking Works, we’re delighted to start issuing £49 Warmer Winter energy top-up vouchers this week to people referred to our food bank.
Looking forward, we think that to ensure we can help everyone referred to us who’ll need a Warmer Winter top-up voucher this winter, we’ll need to raise around £35,000.
So if you can, please help spread the word and invite people you know to donate to help make this a Warmer Winter for people and families across Wandsworth. You can download and print a Warmer Winter poster for your church or faith group, office or business. And you can share the low-res version via email, social media – or maybe even in your street or work Whatsapp groups. Thank you so much!
