March 28th, 2020: Yesterday, both Liam Payne and Trussell Trust posted on Twitter about them joining forces to deliver meals to vulnerable people in Britain during the coronavirus crisis. Liam’s donation is expected to help provide 360,000+ meals over the next three months.
Liam said: “It’s not right that anyone in our country is unable to afford food. Food banks do incredible work to help the people most in need of support. It’s vital that we get support to those people right now, as this crisis unfolds. The Trussell Trust is working with food banks across the country to ensure emergency help is there for people who don’t have money for the basics. But I’m also donating because of the work they do to work towards a future where no one needs a food bank – we can’t end the conversation with getting emergency food to people – as vital as that is. When we’re out the other side of this, we need to look at why there are people in our country who don’t have enough money for food. I want to play my part in finding a solution to ensure people have enough money to buy their own food – and end the need for food banks.” (source)
In his statement, Liam Payne well described what the charity Trussell Trust is all about: provide meals to people in crisis but also work towards a future where food banks will no longer be needed because people will have enough safety net to be able to cover their basic needs.
The Trussell Trust was founded in 1997 by Paddy and Carol Henderson using funds that were left by Carol’s mother, Betty Trussell. The charity initially operated in Bulgaria to help children who were living at Sofia Central Railway Station. In 2000 the charity started to work in the UK, following the appeal of a mother who was unable to provide for her two children. The woman who was living in Salisbury at the time reached out to the charity and said: “My children are going to bed hungry tonight – what are you going to do about it?”
In the last 20 years, the Trussell Trust has become one of the leading charities in supporting food banks. Indeed, the charity, which is based in Salisbury, supports a network of over 1,200 food banks, which basically represent over 2/3 of the food banks in the UK. To give an idea of the reach of the Trussell Trust, it has been estimated that in 2018-2019, the charity’s network distributed over 1.6 million food bank meals to individuals and families in crisis in the UK. Unfortunately, even before the coronavirus crisis, the charity had noticed an increase in the need for food at food banks, which suggested an increase of the number of individuals and families living under the poverty line. Now, during the coronavirus outbreak crisis, this number is expected to be even higher.
The Trussell Trust collects non-perishable food donated by the public at different locations including schools, churches, supermarkets, and businesses. The donated food is then sorted by an army of volunteers that work for the charity (28,000+) and is organized in individual emergency food parcels that are ready to be distributed to people in need.
The video below is shared from the Trussell Trust’ youtube channel.
As mentioned above, the charity also works towards a future where food banks will no longer be needed. To do so, the Trussell Trust encourages and supports food banks in providing more than just food to people in crisis. The idea is the assist each individual that uses food banks and help them identify the underlying causes of poverty and support them in their journey out of poverty, for example, by providing training courses.
To understand better the causes of poverty in the UK, the Trussell Trust also carries out extensive research into foodbank use. One of the research projects that the charity is currently carrying out is called the State of Hunger and it is a three-year-long project by researchers at Heriot-Watt University, which will help understand the scale of hunger and poverty in the UK. In addition, the charity campaigns for change for people who are at risk of slipping into poverty by sharing its findings with policymakers and the public at large, to make sure everyone understands the state of hunger and poverty in the UK.
Following Liam’s donation, Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust said: ” We are so grateful to Liam for this generous donation. This will help us continue to support our network of food banks to provide the best possible emergency help to people referred at an uncertain time. We’re working with food banks across the country to make big changes to the way food banks work, so we can get emergency food to people in the safest way possible. This isn’t easy. Our main priority is the safety of everyone at a food bank, and having support like this helps us ensure that emergency support can continue to be available in the safest possible way. But ultimately, no one should need to use a food bank. Everyone should be able to afford their own food. Liam’s support will help people in the Midlands and other key cities get the emergency support they need today while working towards a future where people have enough money for the essentials in life.” (source)
To learn more about the Trussell Trust and about how you can help, visit their home page here and their donation page.
A Charitable Direction 