Food parcel demand in Inverness soars
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A FOOD bank in an Inverness neighbourhood has closed following a low uptake to focus on its increasingly busy operation in the city centre.
The Highland Foodbank, which helps people in crisis, closed its base in Culloden Library after helping 116 people during its 14 months of operation.
Instead, it will concentrate on its Glebe Street centre which distributes emergency food parcels for an average of 16 people each day.
During the first quarter of this year, it helped 1271 people in Inverness and Nairn compared with 1012 for the same period last year – a rise of more than 20 per cent.
The Highland Foodbank, run by Blythswood Care, is part of the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network.
Manager Lorna Dempster said many clients were referred by partnership agencies – which range from the Citizens Advice Bureau to social services – based in the city centre.
“The idea of the food bank as we operate it is that it exists for people who are in absolute crisis in that they have no food and no resources to buy their own,” she said.
“People were coming from Culloden and Smithton to sign on, or have an appointment with an agency involved with them.
“While in discussion, the agency might refer them as a client and if they are in Inverness, it is sometimes easier to get to the Inverness food bank centre.”
Other church-run projects were helping individuals and families at Smithton and Culloden who were in need but not meeting the food bank criteria.
“As an organisation, we have to make decisions about whether a food bank is feasible to continue, “ she said.
She felt the increasing client numbers in Inverness and Nairn were partly due to Universal Credit and also they included more families especially in school holidays.
Smithton and Culloden community councillor David McGrath was a volunteer with the Culloden food bank and voiced disappointment at its closure.
“We did receive a lot of donations from people in Culloden when we were open in the library and they were very much appreciated – having it there acted as a trigger,” he said.
“But I can understand their reasoning for wanting to close it.”
Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing said the SNP had called on the UK government to halt the rollout of Universal Credit.
“Inverness was used as a test case for a flawed and damaging reform which has left people dependent on foodbanks in desperate poverty,” he said.
“Since its implementation in Inverness my colleague, Drew Hendry MP, has continued to raise the impacts that this devastating policy has had on families across on Highland.
“In a country as wealthy as ours it’s unacceptable that emergency parcels and food banks have become so commonplace – and we know, beyond any doubt, that Tory policies are to blame.”
A Department of Work and Pensions spokeswoman said people used food banks for many and varied reasons.
“We’ve made numerous improvements to Universal Credit – giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, while at the same time helping people get into work faster,” she said.
