Foodbank nominated as local charity of the year and praised in the House of Commons

 

The work of the Harlow Foodbank has been praised by the Leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, after I highlighted the charity's achievements in the House of Commons.

The Harlow charity, which has now given food to more than 5,000 people since 2009, has been nominated for a national award.

A Parliamentary Motion highlights the work of Harlow Foodbank and welcomes the move by the Department of Work and Pensions to allow jobcentres to issue Foodbank vouchers.

The Harlow charity makes a real difference to the lives of people in Harlow, providing a lifeline to people who are going through a period of difficulty or crisis in their lives.

Sir George said:

 “I applaud the work of the Harlow food bank. I applaud the work that food banks do in constituencies throughout the country, making help available to people who, for whatever reason, have no cash at the end of the week, and I commend the work that is being done in Harlow.”

You can read the Motion HERE.

Harlow Community Update

Last week I visited a number of Harlow Community groups and local businesses, as I often do. Here's a brief update:

MP Advice Surgery
On Friday 6th January I held one of my regular MP advice surgeries, helping Harlow residents with problems and worries that that they have. Please call my constituency office to book an appointment for the next available place on 01279 311 451.

Harlow Foodbank
I visited Harlow foodbank again to see Kelloggs donating £500 and cereal boxes. Kelloggs have a fantastic relationship with foodbank and their support is greatly appreciated.

I tabled a motion thanking Kelloggs. You can read it here.

Longwood School
This was my first visit to Longwood since the two schools merged. It was fantastic to meet the Staff and Pupils. But it was even better to hear that with a 82% attainment rate in Literacy and Numeracy, Longwood is now in the top 25% of schools in Essex.

I am holding a Surgery at Longwood between 8:30 and 9:30 on the 3rd Febuary. If any one has a question or a problem I might be able to help with, I urge you to come and talk to me.

Please read my previous Community update here.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Supporting Harlow foodbank

Yesterday I tabled a motion in Parliament praising the support Kelloggs gives to foodbanks around the country, but in particular Harlow's very own foodbank.

The full text was:

"That this House congratulates Kelloggs for its support of foodbanks around the UK; notes that in 2011, Kelloggs supported foodbanks across the UK with 25 tonnes of food, equating to approximately 800,000 breakfasts and cereal bars; celebrates the commitment from Kelloggs to double this amount in 2012; gives particular thanks to Kelloggs for the donation of £500 and cereal boxes to Harlow foodbank and further notes Kelloggs' commitment to continue a close relationship; and welcomes Kelloggs' support for the Big Society and particularly their support for organisations like foodbanks who do so much for those in need."


by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

The Science behind Community Action: Foodbank and Talking Books

At Harlow Foodbank

Harlow Foodbank

Reading at Harlow Talking Newspapers

High-Tech memory stick recording machine 

To Harlow Foodbank this morning to pack and weigh tins. Whilst I have visited Foodbank a number of times - and have actively been campaigning in Parliament to allow job centres to hand out food vouchers - until today, I was never aware of the science of Foodbank.

All food that is donated is weighed, and put carefully into packs. Each pack is carefully listed to ensure that there is a nutritional variety. That means packs will contain, exact numbers of tinned fruit, tea, pasta, beans and some tinned meat and vegetables. The organisation behind this is enormous - and meticulous. All down to the volunteers of the Michael Roberts Charitable Trust.

Later in the afternoon I went to Harlow Talking Books, upstairs at the Town Centre Library. Again the science behind the operation was astonishing: Talking newspapers is run with military precision.

In the afternoon, volunteers arrive to cut articles from newspapers into reading format. Later, the readers arrive (I was one of those), and the articles are read and recorded by computer onto a memory stick. The reading goes on for ninety minutes (taken in turn by the readers), watched over by a computer operator, introducer and concluder.

After, the memory stick is then put into a machine so it can be copied onto many other memory sticks (which all go into the one machine). These are then sent off in yellow envelopes to all the listeners at their homes.

The listeners, plug the memory sticks into a mini MP3 player which are supplied free of charge. Once the memory sticks are listened to, the listeners then send the envelopes back, already addressed, as all they have to do is to turn the card address on the envelope around.

The mechanics of all this are quite remarkable - all the more so for being done entirely by volunteers with a shoestring budget.

I really enjoyed my time as a Reader at Talking Newspapers, all the more so because I was able to see the genius of just how it all is done.

A really fulfilling day.

Food Bank Victory at last

Some good news today.  After six months of lobbying government - I received a letter today from Social Security Minister Chris Grayling, confirming that the Department of Work and Pensions will allow now local Job Centres to hand out Food Bank vouchers.  This had been stopped by the last Labour Government, and it was taking an age to get the machinery of Whitehall to mount a reverse gear.  I raised this issue a number of times in the House of Commons, and before Christmas had a meeting with Mr Grayling and other Department advisers.  To the Government's credit, they have listened and Job Centres will not be stopped from giving out food vouchers to the most needy.  This will greatly help those who are seeking work, who will not have to face the indignity of going elsewhere to look to feed themselves and their families.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Labour stopped food vouchers for the unemployed

You might remember this posting, I wrote in January, about a visit to the remarkable Harlow Foodbank. It is hard to believe, but the last Government stopped local Job Centres from handing out Food Bank vouchers to the unemployed. The prohibition of Foodbank vouchers in JobCentre Plus offices increases the severe poverty and malnutrition in Harlow and other areas. This has hit the poorest families hardest, especially those whose benefits or incomes are delayed through no fault of their own. We must get this decision changed. For this reason I have urged the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith to consider allowing Jobcentre Plus staff to issue Foodbank vouchers. This would mean that local families in crisis get the support they need immediately - instead of being referred to another agency - thereby delaying the process. I have also tabled a Motion in the House of Commons noting that delays in receiving benefits can cause serious problems for families on the breadline, if referral to charities such as Foodbanks is not allowed. I very much hope that the Government will amend the regulations, so that Job Centres can be part of local Foodbank schemes once again. P.S. You might be interested in the below notice from Harlow Foodbank: Harlow Foodbank has just provided food for its 1,158th client since the project opened in April 2009. The foodbank works with churches, schools and frontline care professionals to provide three days of emergency food to local people in crisis. As an increasing amount of people need emergency food, more people in the local community are stepping up to help meet the need by supporting the foodbank. All food given out by the foodbank is donated by the public, with frontline care professionals such as Harlow Welfare Rights, Citizens Advice Centre, Harlow & Broxbourne Women’s Aid and many others identifying those most in need. So far, no client referred to Harlow foodbank has been turned away empty handed. Harlow foodbank director of community services Gary Knott said: "Harlow foodbank continues to provide a valuable service to local people who find themselves in crisis, often through no fault of their own, through losing a job, being made redundant or through an unexpected sickness or bereavement in the family. "The service is rapidly growing since we opened and we now need over a tonne of donated food each month to meet the increasing demands from local people in crisis on our town." Harlow foodbank will be collecting donated food at ASDA on Saturday, June 26; Sainsbury’s on Saturday, July 31; and Tesco (Church Langley) on Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7 (Edinburgh Way) and Friday and Saturday, September 24 and 25.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com