{"id":1033,"date":"2023-08-07T08:30:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T07:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2023-04-27T11:30:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T10:30:34","slug":"how-to-access-a-food-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-access-a-food-bank\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Access a Food Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between April 2022 and March 2023, food banks in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trusselltrust.org\/news-and-blog\/latest-stats\/end-year-stats\/\">Trussell Trust network<\/a> distributed almost 3 million emergency food parcels, acting as the highest amount of parcels ever distributed by them in a year. With that in mind, we thought it was important to provide some information about accessing food banks if you are ever in a situation where you need one.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why do some People Need Food Banks?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may need to use a food bank if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lose your job<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your benefits have been delayed or reduced<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ve been met with unexpected costs, such as a rise in your heating bill or rent<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have experienced a change in finances due to divorce<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not a complete list of why some people rely on food banks, but it does provide some examples of ways in which we might experience a loss of income or a rise in our expenditures.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do Food Banks Provide?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food banks tend to give you a food parcel that will last you for 3 days. However, it\u2019s not just about the food. Food banks may also give you other essential items, such as baby care, toiletries, period products and household items.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Get a Referral<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will need to have a referral to use the majority of food banks. You can get a referral for you and any family members you live with, including your partner.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may be able to get referred to a food bank by Citizens Advice, your GP, a health visitor, the police or a social worker, as each food bank works with different frontline professionals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensadvice.org.uk\/about-us\/contact-us\/contact-us\/contact-us\/\">Contacting Citizens Advice<\/a> is a good starting point as they can often refer you or point you in the right direction or someone who will. You can set up an appointment with an adviser from Citizens Advice for them to assess your situation and refer you to a food bank if you\u2019re eligible. If they do refer you, you\u2019ll be given a voucher for your nearest food bank.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatively, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/find-local-council\">contact your local council<\/a> to ask them how to get a referral to your local food bank.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How it Works<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If referred to a food bank, you should check your voucher for any requirements, such as whether it is only valid on a specific day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned before, food banks usually give you a food parcel to last 3 days. They may be able to deliver this parcel to you if you cannot afford to travel to pick it up yourself, or if you are unable to travel due to sickness or disability.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you require the use of the food bank again, you will need to get a new referral and voucher.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Trussell Trust is the UK\u2019s largest food bank network, supporting over 1,200 food bank centres. You can find your nearest Trussell Trust food bank <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trusselltrust.org\/get-help\/find-a-foodbank\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The continued cost-of-living crisis is having a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redstarwealth.co.uk\/blog\/how-the-cost-of-living-is-affecting-food-banks\/\">huge impact on food banks<\/a>. For more information on how to give support to the Trussell Trust\u2019s cause, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trusselltrust.org\/what-we-do\/\">visit their website<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between April 2022 and March 2023, food banks in the Trussell Trust network distributed almost 3 million emergency food parcels, acting as the highest amount of parcels ever distributed by them in a year. With that in mind, we thought it was important to provide some information about accessing food banks if you are ever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[449,458,366,56,57,457,18,448,445,446,442,447,453,454,452,444,455,456,443,450,451],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Access a Food Bank - Red Star Education Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Between April 2021 and March 2022, the Trussell Trust network distributed 2.1 million food parcels to those in need\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-access-a-food-bank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Access a Food Bank - 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