Simon is the Rector of Bemerton and one of the people I most enjoyed spending two years with at theological college (see here for the parish website featuring a photo of Simon with a group of young children – Simon is short like me but even so I think he must be kneeling down in that picture). One thing he has to try doing is to follow in the footsteps of George Herbert, a previous rector, quite an awesome task; another thing is to help and encourage the work that is done in the church community centre.
One group which uses their centre is The Trussell Trust, pioneers of foodbanks in which people in dire need are provided with emergency food and support. Simon emailed me their latest e-newsletter because it contains a lot of coverage about the sudden rise of the Okehampton foodbank following some major job losses in our area. The unlikely phenomenon of large numbers of jobless people receiving emergency food parcels in a south west England market town has received a great deal of attention in the national press, and this is what the Trussel Trust say:
Following the closure of three local companies, Okehampton foodbank has seen numbers needing emergency food soar from 20 to 200 per week. Unemployment in the Devon town has risen from 2% to nearly 12% leaving many former employees with no choice but to rely on food parcels from Okehampton foodbank until redundancy packages and benefit payments come through.
The plight of the people in Okehampton and surge in numbers turning to the foodbank has been widely reported by the national media this week. Whilst local people have rallied to provide extra food to meet the demand, the foodbank is still under pressure. Okehampton foodbank's Andrew Morgan told the Guardian, "We are still appealing for food, it is desperately needed: some staff made redundant hadn't been paid for weeks. There really are people with no money and they really can't afford to put food on the table."
Adrian and Kay Vernon were both made redundant from Polestar foods, Okehampton, and suddenly left with no money. With a four-year-old daughter to feed, Adrian told the BBC that his foodbox was 'a lifesaver'.
Unemployment nationwide is at a 17-year high and foodbanks across the country are experiencing huge demand. This year the UK foodbank network estimates it has fed 60,000 people; an increase of nearly 20,000 people from the previous year.
In Okehampton, a recent Christian Aid event was poorly attended, but the churches have seen support for the foodbank grow massively. While it doesn't address the core of the problem (and who is qualified to fix the economy? I don't envy anyone in business at this time), the foodbank does offer much needed support to people in crisis. I did my little bit to encourage people's involvement by sharing the story of my experiences of unemployment with the readers of the magazine which networks all the churches in our area, the Northmoor News, this month, Work is a curse – until you don't have any.
