SHOCKING new figures have lifted the lid on
the scale of Wigan’s escalating hunger crisis.
The borough’s food
bank, run by The Brick homeless shelter, has handed out nearly twice as many
emergency food parcels in 2013 as in the previous five years
combined.
This year alone, 4,193 emergency hampers have been handed out
and, since April 1, more than 3,000 have been dished out to adults and more than
880 to local children.
Of the children helped in the last nine months,
277 were aged under five and 299 aged between five and 11 years old.
In
2012 the total number of food parcels dished out was 941 and in the previous
year the figure was just 580.
Trish Green, who manages The Brick, reckons
the scrapping of Government crisis loans combined with benefits changes and the
bedroom tax is responsible for the alarming increase.
She said: “Ever
since the crisis loans were stopped the demand has exploded. For a lot of people
there’s no other place they can turn.
“When we set the foodbank up we
never envisaged it would end up like this. I wish it wasn’t needed at all - but
it’s clearly crucial. It’s a terrible state of affairs.
Wigan Today
