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Uniting churches for social action

Matt and Debbie* and their three children are in crisis. They are crippled by debt, and Matt has just lost his job. His benefits will take time to be paid and even these will not service his debts. Where on earth are they going to find money to eat?

This is a true and oft-repeated story. There are still 12.4 million people living in poverty in the UK and increasing consumerism and debt is dividing the nation. Almost every community has its areas of social exclusion and deprivation. The church’s response to local poverty has been patchy, and often uncoordinated. Social action was once central to church mission but most find Jesus’s words in Matthew 25.35-40 a difficult challenge.

The Food Bank

However, a project that has attracted a good deal of attention, earning the support not only of local communities, but also of organisations such as Faithworks and Christians Against Poverty (CAP), is the Food Bank project. Pioneered in Salisbury by a small Christian charity, it has united churches and the community to provide a practical and immediate response to people in crisis going hungry. The Trussell Trust has not only mobilised the support of 70 churches locally, but over the last two years has also successfully replicated food banks in ten other towns across the UK, the latest in Poole, bringing welcome relief to thousands of people in crisis.

Planning for Christmas

Matt and Debbie got help from the Food Bank, which also linked them to CAP. They are now well on their way to financial recovery, and have signed up for Alpha. These are just five of the 2,844 people helped last year in South Wiltshire. All have benefited by generous local support, particularly this year at Harvest Festival when local churches and schools collected over 11 tonnes of food for the mission. The Food Bank is already planning for Christmas, laying up stocks of seasonal food. A crisis at Christmas can be devastating but including a Christmas hamper with the emergency food goes a long way to bringing some cheer and welcome relief.

Whatever the crisis, food is made available all through front line care professionals, who hold emergency food vouchers. Vouchers are exchanged for three days of nutritionally-balanced tinned and dried food at the Food Bank Centre. Here volunteers pack the food according to the size of the family being supported, provide a welcome meal or a cup of coffee, and can point people to additional services provided by partner organisations to help people break the cycle of poverty. This support is provided entirely free, without discrimination or condemnation, but from a Christian perspective. The aim is to feed the hungry, taking the time to befriend them, sow the Word, and, where appropriate, pray for them.

All can help

A key reason for the success of the project is that, while one motivated group can take the lead, all local churches can find some way to support the project. This may take the form of prayer support, volunteering, collecting food, or giving financial support or other resources. None are excluded and it makes room for those involved on other projects to be engaged even if in a small way. Uniting Christians like this is inspiring and the growth of outreach to people in the community is amazing.

Background information

The Trussell Trust is a Christian charity committed to launching life changing, sustainable, community-based projects in the UK and overseas.

It was established in 1997 and began its work supporting the Roma (gypsy) community, including and an orphanage, in Bulgaria. This work continues today with a mixture of projects ranging from food aid, vaccination, building maintenance, schoolbooks and equipment, micro-food-growing projects, and an annual holiday for the orphans by the Black Sea.

The Food Bank was launched in Salisbury in 2000, following a challenge by a local woman in crisis who could not afford to feed her children, never mind support our fundraising for Bulgaria.

Since then:

* The Trussell Trust was awarded The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award in 2003 in recognition of its work providing food to local people in crisis and the support the Trust has given to other voluntary and statutory organisations.

* In 2004, the Food Bank was short-listed for the Faithworks Community Resource Award.

* In 2005/6, the Food Bank network helped by providing food for over 7000 people of whom 2400 were children.

* In May 2004, the Trust launched its Food Bank franchise initiative and has launched 12 more new food bank projects in Inverness, Milton Keynes, Gloucester, Swindon, Calne, Bude, Redruth, Andover, Poole, Worthing, Bath and Stourbridge.

For further information or help, contact us through our website, http://www.trusselltrust.org, or ring Jeremy Ravn on 01722 411244.

* names changed to protect identity