Half a million people have visited foodbanks in
the UK since last Easter and 5,500 people were admitted to hospital in the UK
for malnutrition last year.
One in five mothers report regularly skipping
meals to better feed their children, and even more families are just one
unexpected bill away from waking up with empty cupboards.
We often hear talk of hard choices. Surely few
can be harder than that faced by the tens of thousands of older people who must
“heat or eat” each winter, harder than those faced by families whose wages have
stayed flat while food prices have gone up 30% in just five years.
Yet beyond even this we must, as a society, face
up to the fact that over half of people using foodbanks have been put in that
situation by cut backs to and failures in the benefit system, whether it be
payment delays or punitive sanctions.
On March 5th Lent will begin. The Christian
tradition has long been at this time to fast, and by doing so draw closer to
our neighbour and closer to God.
On March 5th we will begin a time of fasting
while half a million regularly go hungry in Britain. We urge those of all faith
and none, people of good conscience, to join with us.
There is an acute moral imperative to act.
Hundreds of thousands of people are doing so already, as they set up and
support foodbanks across the UK. But this is a national crisis, and one we must
rise to.
We call on government to do its part: acting to
investigate food markets that are failing, to make sure that work pays, and to
ensure that the welfare system provides a robust last line of defence against
hunger.
Join us at www.endhungerfast.co.uk.
Yours
Anglican Bishops
Stephen Platten, Wakefield
David
Walker, Manchester
Tim
Stevens, Leicester
Andy
John, Bangor
Tony
Porter, Sherwood
Paul
Butler, Durham
Alan
Wilson, Buckingham
Alan
Smith, St Albans
Nick
Holtam, Salisbury
Tim
Thornton, Truro
John
Pritchard, Oxford
Steven
Croft, Sheffield
Jonathan
Gledhill, Lichfield
Michael
Perham, Gloucester
Alastair
Redfern, Derby
Lee
Rayfield, Swindon
James
Langstaff, Rochester
Martin
Warner, Chichester
Mike
Hill, Bristol
Martin
Wharton, Newcastle
Peter
Maurice, Taunton
Gregory
Cameron, St Asaph
Peter
Burrows, Doncaster
Stephen
Cottrell, Chelmsford
Martyn
Snow, Tewkesbury
John
Holbrook, Brixworth
David
Urquhart, Birmingham
Methodist Chairs of District
Lorraine Mellor, Nottingham and Derby
John
Hellyer, South East
Jenny
Impey, London
Michaela
Young, London
Stuart
Jordan, London
Bruce
Thompson, Lincolnshire
Lionel
Osborn, Newcastle upon Tyne
Revd
Richard Teal, Cumbria
Revd
Jim Booth, Liverpool
Revd
Vernon Marsh, Sheffield
United Reformed Church
Paul Whittle, Eastern Synod
Simon
Walkling, Synod of Wales
Richard Church, Northwest Synod
Richard Church, Northwest Synod
Quakers
Clare Wood, Assistant General Secretary for Quaker Peace and Social Justice
Helen
Drewery, General Secretary for Quaker Peace and Social Justice
No comments:
Post a Comment