North Cotswold Foodbank joins national lobby of MPs

Three trustees from North Cotswold Foodbank joined a mass lobby of Parliament on June 18 to support the nationwide ‘Guarantee Our Essentials’ campaign.

Spearheaded by Trussell and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the campaign is aimed at ensuring that Universal Credit covers the costs of life’s essentials.

Mike Sibthorpe, Jonathan Brown and Jenny Jones joined around 700 people from all over the UK to lobby local MPs.

Along with colleagues from Trussell and other food aid charities, they attended a briefing, and heard from those with lived experience and from comedian Nish Kumar, one of Trussell’s ambassadors.

They then met the Parliamentary Assistants for our local MPs Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) and Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswolds).

“The discussions were hugely productive as the reality of life on Universal Credit and the suggested changes to the system were explained,” said Jonathan. “On behalf of both MPs, there was a commitment to learning how they can play their part in ensuring that our social security system is fit for purpose. We believe that ending the need for food banks is a mission for all, and one that every politician should be taking seriously.”

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