Emergency Food Collection as Holiday Hunger Bites

Wednesday August 17

An emergency food collection is being held at Rangers Football Club on Saturday after two of Glasgow’s Church of Scotland-run foodbanks said they were running out of stock.

Hillington Park and Ibrox parish church foodbanks both blame the shortage on ‘holiday hunger’, as parents struggle to feed children who receive free school meals during term time.

The Rev Dr Martin Johnstone, secretary of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council and chair of the Food Poverty Group, told Third Force News: “That the shelves are empty in our foodbanks reflects the reality that the cupboards are completely bare in many people’s homes," he said. "We have to do all we can to change that and any efforts to replenish the stock of emergency food is to be deeply welcomed.

"Alongside that effort we need to tackle the bigger problem – that too many people do not have enough money to feed themselves and their families. That is about low wages and zero hour contracts. It’s about failings within our benefits system and the failure of benefits to keep pace with the rising cost of food, fuel and housing.”

Holiday hunger has become a talking point this summer and several churches around Scotland have run projects to help.

The food collection will take place ahead of Rangers’ game against Motherwell on Saturday, or people not going to the match can drop off donations at the Rangers Charity Foundation’s office at Ibrox stadium.

Read more at Third Force News. For information on the Hillington Park and Ibrox foodbanks, and others in Scotland, visit the Trussell Trust.

Post Tags: hunger, foodbanks

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