Emergency as food bank finds shelves almost bare ahead of Universal Credit launch A food bank has made a desperate plea for help as it was left with almost bare shelves, due to […]

A food bank has made a desperate plea for help as it was left with almost bare shelves, due to unprecedented demand.

The centre sent out the SOS for emergency supplies ahead of the introduction of the Universal Credit benefits system in the area.

Normally able to hand out as many as 450 packages a month, it is currently down to the last few tins.

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One charity worker at the Preston foodbank feared a “perfect storm” next month, as the timing coincided with the start of the school holidays – a time when many struggle to feed their families.

“We are desperate. It is probably the worst situation we have ever been in,” said Natalie Thomas at the Salvation Army centre in Harrington Street, Preston.

“But it is likely to get even worse in July with Universal Credit and the holidays causing even more hardship.

“I don’t know how we will get through it without some urgent help.”

Left without cash for weeks

The food shortage comes as many nearby areas, including Preston, Chorley and Leyland prepare for the controversial benefits system to come into effect in July – it is being introduced in stages across the UK.

Changes in the benefit system have hit people hard in other areas of the UK where the new system has already been implemented.

Claimants have been left without cash for six weeks – sometimes even longer – forcing more to seek handouts from charities.

Nationally research by the Trussell Trust, Britain’s largest network of foodbanks, has shown use has risen by 52 per cent in the 12 months following Universal Credit being introduced, compared with just 13 per cent in places where the old benefits system is still in operation.

Preston’s largest foodbank hands out up to 450 parcels a month when the need is greatest.

But this week staff say they don’t have enough supplies to fill even a handful.

“We’re out of almost everything,” said Natalie.

‘There’s a perfect storm gathering and we don’t know how we’re going to cope’

“We’re down to our last few cans and we really are struggling.

“The only thing we have plenty of is dry pasta. That’s it.

“We always seem to have a difficult time from April through to September, but not as bad as this.”

Universal Credit, which combines all types of welfare benefits into one payment, has been under attack since it was first introduced as in a small number of “pathfinder” areas in the North West.

Some new claimants are already receiving it in Central Lancashire, although the bulk in Preston, Leyland and Chorley will be switching in July as the system is introduced in 60 more JobCentre areas as part of the Government’s gradual roll-out programme.

‘A perfect storm’

Coming, as it does, at a time when many families struggle to feed their children during the long school holidays, the foodbanks locally expect an unprecedented surge in demand.

“There’s a perfect storm gathering and we don’t know how we’re going to cope,” said Natalie.

“The situation is dire already and we are only in June.

“There’s a perfect storm gathering and we don’t know how we’re going to cope,

“We have been giving out more food parcels since Universal Credit first came in.

“But most aren’t on it yet and, once it is rolled out fully across Preston, it will only make things worse.”

The Salvation Army refuge was hit by a huge rise in demand around the same time last summer – but nothing on this scale.

In June 2017 the first switch-overs to Universal Credit left some without cash for up to eight weeks, forcing them to seek emergency help from the foodbank.

At the time Claire Bowerman, the centre co-ordinator, revealed she had seen demand for food parcels rise 20-fold in less than six years working with the charity.

“In 2011 we handed out 20 or 30 bags a month, now we fill around 450,” she said.

“The problem started to bite around the start of April – the same time wholesale changes to UK benefits were introduced.”

In Chorley, staff the LivingWaters foodbank which is currently handing out 100 parcels a month say Universal Credit was just one of the issues causing increased hardship.

A programme to feed schoolchidren during the holidays was set up in the area last year and is being expanded this year.

The original source of this article is our sister site, Lancashire Evening Post.