Researchers have found the wide range of services that are provided at foodbanks, and warned they cannot be easily replaced
Foodbanks have become vital in providing more than just food for the vulnerable.
Research by Glasgow University has found that foodbanks offer support to those who are isolated, cookery advice and information on welfare.
The study was carried out as part of the GoWell Glasgow Community Health and Wellbeing programme and is part of plans to move Scotland away from reliance on foodbanks.
However the report shows that the services are now being taken for granted by many local authorities and even charities.
The study seen people who had used foodbanks quizzed, and looked at issues such as the type of foods received and stigma of relying on donations, as well as the reasons why people needed emergency support.
Positive comments about the support offered by foodbanks were almost unanimous, researchers said.
“For many it was a surprise that someone actually cared about their situation and was not judging them for it,” the report said.
“For some participants, this surprise, and the impact the foodbank environment had on them, appeared to stem from their negative experiences in dealing with public sector agencies about benefits and employment issues, where they felt they were being negatively judged, not empathised with or understood, and not supported.”
The services were said to be able to offer particular help to those suffering from loneliness, anxiety or depression, and excelled in being able to signpost the people they help to other organisations.
Figures used to measure food aid in Scotland were found not to include many services which are operated by churches and community groups, with one in 25 people in the poorest parts of the country having to use foodbanks.
Financial crises were the main reason for people requiring items, and often linked to issues with benefits. Many users were found to have issues with mental or physical health.
Professor Ade Kearns, one of the authors of the report, said it is important that other support services are put in place before foodbanks are reduced or removed in Scotland.
“If you want, as the Scottish Government does, to try and provide other types of food aid, this suggests we should not rush to remove foodbanks without being sure the other things they do for people in need can be provided in another way,” he said.
“There’s a big social need here that is not a food need. The Scottish Government asked us to look at the implications for food policy, but what we found has a bearing on its social isolation strategy as well.”
Life at the foodbank
Amanda
“I’m not saying that I can’t borrow money but all my family are just the same as me, know what I mean? They do get money but they’re skint.”
Jill
“I thought it was mainly for people who were struggling and it’s one of these things where you know of it, you hear about it, but it doesn’t really affect you, it doesn’t come into contact in your daily life so you don’t really put much thought into it.”
Bobby
“I felt quite embarrassed the first time I went, right enough. And that was me on my pension, I still had to go.”
Stacey
“Some weeks when we were going up there, there were over 50 people.”
Edward
“We walk with the bags. From Parkhead all the way home. And the bags are heavy, so I would be walking from here to there, stopping, resting.”
John
“It was all tinned processed foods… and some pasta. There was enough to keep you over the four days. But they didn’t have any fresh foods, they depended on what was given.”
