This week, our Chair of Trustees, Rev. Christine Jones attended an event where we had the opportunity to reflect on what we need to do to tackle poverty. Below is a summary of that reflection.
"I was drawn to become involved with Foodbank because I have a
professional background in food education and care about the life-giving,
community-building capacity associated with the growing, cooking and preparing
of fresh foods. But over the last three years I have spent with Foodbank, through my conversations with those involved, I have become increasingly
concerned about issues relating to the crisis model we operate:
- the stigma associated with a red voucher
- requiring that people in crisis situations go from ‘pillar to post’
to receive food
- the vulnerability of volunteers listening to stories of hardship
- the lack of alternative options for people with complex and enduring
needs
- the loss, across our society, of the skills and understanding needed to create a
meal from the foods in the crisis bag, as well as the need for cooking equipment
- and the way that charitable models often keep people in crisis in a subservient role.
Over 3 years, West Cheshire Foodbank has provided enough food for 14,000 people to eat properly for three days. But for me,
there is an enduring sense of a waste of human life that so many people have
little option but to rely on charity to meet their needs. It is these concerns that shape my reflection regarding
‘ What we need to do to tackle poverty’.
I believe the starting place is important. There is a real need to listen to people living in poverty as a priority. ‘Anything about us, without us is not for us’ is the strap line for a model of
listening which has been pioneered by the ‘Poverty Truth Commission’ in Glasgow. The approach of the PTC is to share stories in ways which build trust
and embrace people struggling in poverty working alongside key decision-makers.
This is the starting place for shaping response to actual need. In seeking to
tackle poverty, I would endeavor to establish inclusive, trusting relationships
where people and organisations are encouraged to work collaboratively in their
local communities. Many urban high streets have lived with decline in recent
years. Central to those communities are empty shops which stand as places where
new life could be generated through the sharing of common tasks. I believe it
is essential to take grass-roots approaches to community building which embrace
a wider participation. In really listening to the experts who live with
poverty, resource could then be re-directed and support provided within
communities where neighbours will work together.
West Cheshire Foodbank is endeavoring to involve people struggling
with poverty with every aspect of the operation and to learn from this expertise. In seeking an exit strategy,
WCFB will be working with Edge Hill University to build the capacity of
volunteers and explore whether new sustainable initiatives can be established around
cooking, growing and be-friending. We also hope to explore the value of
replacing the warehouse and associated costs through establishing local community
shops. At a local government level, we will also continue to support Cheshire West
and Chester Council who have agreed to establish a Poverty Truth Commission in West Cheshire. In and throughout any development, and working collaboratively with partner organisations, our firm commitment is to develop
relationships which genuinely empower people living in poverty."
A "Meeting of Minds" was coordinated by the Institution for Public Policy and Professional Practice at Edge Hill University, The Centre for Local Economic Strategy and the Webb Memorial Trust. If you have any comments specifically relating to what we have shared above please email Alec Spencer: devofficer@westcheshire.foodbank.org.uk. For general inquiries please email info@westcheshire.foodbank.org.uk or call 0151 355 7730.
