A Mail on Sunday story attacking foodbanks has lead to a huge rise in donations
There has been a huge surge in donations to foodbanks after a newspaper article criticising the UK’s biggest foodbank charity sparked a social media funding drive.
The Trussell Trust says it has been overwhelmed by the public’s generosity as its Help Crack Hunger campaign topped £40,000.
The funding drive launched at the start of the year had raised only £2,000 from 365 donations before a Mail on Sunday article claimed foodbanks were giving out bags of shopping without proper checks.
We've been totally overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people following the Mail on Sunday's article
The total now stands at over £40,000 after an additional 3,600 donations.
The Mail on Sunday published an article claiming the foodbanks were giving out bags of shopping without proper checks and claimed that some people were abusing the system by taking more handouts then they were entitled to.
It led to a social media backlash with many people donating to the JustGiving page of the charity to donate over the Easter weekend.
Many of those donating on the website used their comments and tweets to cite the Mail on Sunday article as the reason behind their donation.
Donor Roger Barrett tweeted: “Excellent response and my thanks for all you and the 30,000 volunteers do to ease the pain and suffering of those most in need.”
Another, Ashleigh Young, wrote: “Didn’t know about Trussell until this article. Here’s £30. Thanks Daily Mail for awareness raising.”
Chris Mould, chair of Trussell Trust, said: “We've been totally overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people following the Mail on Sunday's article. It's been amazing to see thousands of people react to the article by donating to help people in crisis.
“We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who's given.”
Last week Scotland’s Trussell Trust network of foodbanks received a funding boost from the Big Lottery Fund Scotland in order to help expand in the face of soaring demand for their services.
The money will help support its nationwide network of emergency supply centres which are expected to feed 400,000 Scots over the next five years.
The £944,708 award was given as the Trussell Trust revealed that demand for foodbanks had grown five times last year.
Glasgow has the highest number of foodbank users in Scotland. 9,687 people in the city turned to them last year.
Edinburgh had the second highest number of users with 6,707, while Dundee saw 5,990 people seek emergency food.
Ewan Gurr, Scotland development officer for The Trussell Trust, said the massive rise in demand for food relief highlights the extent to which foodbanks are a lifeline to many Scottish families.
He added: “The Big Lottery Fund has a tremendous track record of supporting many worthy causes and we are pleased they have sought to support our efforts in Scotland.”
The Scottish Government also recently announced it was investing £500,000 in food waste charity FareShare and £500,000 into other food poverty charities, funding that is expected to support local foodbanks.
