Cold and hungry this Christmas

Nearly half of hard up families who use food banks are at risk of going cold this Christmas, a charity warned yesterday (December 21).

The Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest foodbank network, said this holiday season will be its busiest ever and expects to provide more than 1.2 million food parcels in December alone.

New research published by Trust, which has received thousands of pounds of donations from generous Unite members as part of the union’s Hope Not Hunger appeal, shows that many desperate families are also facing a Yuletide without heating, hot water or lights.

The data shows that 46 percent of cash-strapped foodbank visitors use prepaid electricity meters, which means that they risk going without power if they cannot afford to pay their electricity bill in advance.

The trust’s chief executive, David McAuley, said, “A crisis in winter for someone on a prepayment meter who can’t afford the bare essentials isn’t just shocking, it’s dangerous.

“We’ve met a grandma who went without food and heating as she waited six weeks for a delayed pay cheque, and a family using candles over the Christmas period because they can’t afford to put the lights on.”

Poverty stricken families caught in the “heat or eat” trap are especially vulnerable in winter. The situation led the Trussell Trust to set up it’s “Fuel Bank” scheme, which provides foodbank users who are on pre-paid meters with vouchers that will keep the electricity on for two weeks.

Unite members across the country have raised more than ÂŁ21,000 for the Trussell Trust since the Hope Not Hunger appeal began at the beginning at the December.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey praised their generosity and urged everyone to get onboard.

“Unite members have shown time and again that they are very generous when it comes to remembering people in crisis,” he said.

“It is shocking to think that in the world’s sixth richest nation, Trussell Trust foodbanks will feed over 130,000 people this Christmas. That’s more than double the number of people fed when we last teamed up with the charity in 2013.

“No person should have to choose between heating and eating this Christmas but without the support of local foodbanks up and down the country many thousands will.”

Find out more about how you can donate to our Hope not Hunger Christmas appeal here.