Many seeking charity’s help are struggling to feed themselves

On World Food Day, the 16th October, national poverty charity Turn2us says that it is alarmed about the numbers of people seeking its help who are hungry.

The charity, which helps people find benefits, grants and financial support, said that many people contacting it for help couldn’t afford enough food to feed themselves. The charity, which received over 76,000 calls to its helpline last year and saw over 1.5 million welfare benefit calculations take place on its website, says that it now regularly refers people to where they can obtain vouchers to go to their local foodbank.

The charity says one issue it is seeing is a lack of basic household appliances which makes it harder for people to feed themselves on very tight budget. It says that not having a freezer, fridge or cooker, means that they are limited in what food they can buy and how they can make it last over a few days.

Highlighting how a range of factors can lead someone to not be able to feed themselves, Simon Hopkins, chief executive of Turn2us, said:

“Poverty is a complex and diverse issue but the simple and common thread is a lack of money. So, it isn’t simply a case of not having enough money to buy food for a week. It can often be not being able to afford to cook, refrigerate and freeze food which would enable a person to manage on a very limited budget.

“That said, complex or not, it is nothing short of a crisis that significant numbers of people in the UK are hungry because they simply cannot afford to eat.”

Turn2us is urging anyone who is struggling to cope financially to seek its help at Turn2us.org.uk. The charity can help people understand and access the support that they are eligible for and entitled to.