Having to go to a food bank sticks with you – it’s time politicians knew about it

A few years ago, I had to turn to a food bank when my marriage broke down and I lost my job. As a newly single mum with two kids, I was terrified of how I was going to put food on the table. It’s an experience that sticks with you, and one that politicians need to know about.

The food bank helped me get back on my feet when I had nowhere else to turn. Since then, I’ve held various jobs, become a town councillor and even stood as a candidate in the general election. I do this because I believe things need to change and people in power need to know what it’s like to struggle to afford the essentials like food, bills and toiletries.

Unfortunately, my experience isn’t uncommon. In the last year alone, food banks in the Trussell community provided almost three million emergency food parcels to people facing hunger and hardship across the UK. This isn’t right.

That’s why I’m joining more than 700 people in Westminster today (18 June) to meet my constituent MP and ask them to take urgent action on hunger in the UK by improving our social security system, which should be there for all of us when we need it most. I’ll be speaking to politicians about how my experience impacted me, and what they can do to better support people facing hardship.

Collectively, we’ll be calling for steps towards achieving an essentials guarantee, which would help ensure universal credit provides enough to cover the essentials we all need to get by.

I’m committed to making a difference in the world, because I believe no one should have to go to a food bank. There should be building blocks in place so that it doesn’t come to this.  

Despite how far I’ve come, this year, I have almost had to turn to a food bank again. I’ve recently started a new part-time role, which gets topped up by universal credit, but my income barely covers the cost of my rent, let alone food and bills. I was just about managing, until my car packed in.

Read more:

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• Council tries to evict food bank – despite referring 95% of its users: ‘There is nowhere to go’
• Food banks are a lifeline – but not the solution. There are better ways to tackle poverty in 2025

I had to get a new one. How else would I get to work, or take the kids to school? Even though I’d come so far, I felt like I was right back where I’d started. It’s frightening. The feeling of being trapped in an endless cycle, despite working every day to try and get back on your feet. Once you slip into financial hardship, it’s very hard to get out. One wrong move, one adverse event – and you’re at risk of having to turn to a food bank again.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Our social security should be a safety net, there to support us when we fall on hard times – just like our NHS. But right now, it’s falling short. Universal credit is not enough to cover the essentials like food and is leaving too many people struggling to make ends meet.

This feels like a monumental moment for change and I feel empowered to stand alongside so many others, including people from across the anti-poverty sector, volunteers, food bank staff, campaigners and people like me have experienced hardship. We will unite with one voice to ask our policymakers to play their part in ending hunger in the UK. This cannot happen until the UK government takes action to ensure that universal credit is fit for purpose. Together, we are much harder to ignore.

Amie Alissa Watson is a town councillor working with Trussell to campaign for an essentials guarantee.

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