Wigan charities call for more support for struggling families

Charities in Wigan are amongst those urging the government to provide greater help to families who have struggled to afford essentials during the pandemic.

It comes after a group of MP's released a report into what more can be done to help the 5.9 million adults and 1.7 million children who experienced food poverty or insecurity in the six months to February.

Efforts to tackle hunger by expanding the free school meals programme and boosting support to food banks should continue beyond the pandemic, the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said.

In a report released on Wednesday, committee chair and Conservative MP Neil Parish called on the government to "set a precedent" for the future.

The cross-party group of MPs wants the government to build on actions taken during the COVID outbreak by enshrining the "right to food" in law and appointing a food security minister.

Mr Parish said: "During the COVID crisis, different government departments pulled together to make sure that the most vulnerable in our society were fed. This should set a precedent."

"We have a duty to ensure that access to enough nutritious food is a fundamental right for everyone in the UK, which is why our committee urges the government to appoint a new minister specifically to address food security."

Sunshine House in Wigan has provided more than 5,000 meals to children across the borough already this year.

Barbara Nettleton is the CEO there, she told there needs to be more of a community led approach to tackling the issue:

"I now look at families, even where people are going out and working and it's costing them more now than ever."

"Anybody's in need today, you don't have to wear it around your neck and say 'I'm unemployed', the thing is you've got to prove that you're hungry, you've got to prove that you're on a benefit."

"Everybody can suffer in this day and age and we should be able to help anybody regardless of circumstances."

"I wonder how the government are going to monitor it and how are they going to get it out there to the people that need it."

"They should be paying community centres, saying to us you have X number of children in your borough and you are entitled to X number of pounds to feed these children and they should let us do it that way."

"I always say we are the poor relation of Greater Manchester, it's got two cities and we've gone well below ,I think, in terms of what they give out.

"I wonder whether the kids in the deprived areas, the kids that really need it are going to be the ones that get it."

"I don't think a lot of the ministers get exactly what community centres are about."

"We're not in their world, we're in a deprived area and we try to know what our community wants."

"We should control that money, we know who to feed, we don't pay big wages, I've not got a jag outside."

"I'm a volunteer, and we run on volunteers and I think the government needs to sit down and carefully consider how they're going to monitor it."

"It's all right, giving a big company some money or saying, you can all have a £10 voucher. You know, there's no guarantee them kids are going to get that meal."

A government spokesman responded that "the pandemic has proven that the UK has a large, diverse and highly resilient food supply chain that has coped well in responding to unprecedented challenges - and we will review the recommendations set out within this report and respond accordingly".

He added: "Since March last year, we have spent more than £280bn to deliver an impressive package of economic and welfare support to protect and support the incomes and needs of families and children - and we continue to work closely with the food industry to ensure people across the country have the food and supplies they need."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.