Taking our message to Parliament

Almost 1 in 5 people claiming Universal Credit and disability payments have used a food bank in the last month. Our social security system should be there for all of us when we need it most, but right now it’s not even providing enough to cover the cost of life’s essentials – driving hardship and hunger in our community.

But there is hope – because we know what needs to change.

That’s why we joined Trussell, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Salvation Army and 700 people in Parliament recently to ask MPs to back steps that move us closer to an Essentials Guarantee, where everyone had a protected minimum level of support to afford the essentials.

Wandsworth Foodbank’s Dan and Sarah met with Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea, and Fleur Anderson, MP for Putney, to share what we’re seeing locally, to talk about the Essentials Guarantee, and to ask the Government to reconsider its plans to cut social security for disabled people.*

We also delivered a joint letter from us and local community and voluntary sector friends, expressing our shared concern about the number of people in our community  experiencing hunger and hardship because they cannot afford the essentials. We’re grateful to the following organisations who were co-signatories:

• Age UK Wandsworth
• Citizens Advice Wandsworth
• Elays Network
• Earlsfield Foodbank
• Katherine Low Settlement
• Little Village
• Roehampton Community Box
• Thinking Works
• Wandsworth Carers Centre

^Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting, was not able to meet us last week but we are in touch with her about these vital issues, and she and her team continue to be supportive of our work. 

Back to News