It’s Because You ‘Can’t Say No’, You Idiot…

…that there’s such a demand in the first place!

Government policies such as the welfare cap and benefit sanctions were to blame for the increased demand, Ms Koroma claimed, with up to 90 families a week now being referred to her.

She believed further cuts scheduled for next April would only make the situation worse.

She said: “We’re not getting any help. The numbers are getting higher, and they are just going to get even higher.

“Some clients we will see twice a week because of benefit sanctions. If they have kids, we can’t say no.

“When I first started this, there was only me. Now there are more than five food banks in Croydon.”

Gosh! I wonder why they've expanded..?

Fatima Koroma said a guaranteed source of funding was the only way to ensure the survival of the Croydon Food Store, after the number of referrals to the service doubled since its opening in 2012.

She said: “To satisfactorily maintain this while looking for other forms of funding, we need a minimum of £20,000 a year.

“Some of us get up at 6am to be at the supermarkets first thing. These are sometimes people with children. It’s a continuous chase for food.”

A clue as to just why food banks are so ‘necessary’ might just be found in the ‘Croydon Guardian’s’ rival paper:

Alisa Flemming, cabinet member for children, families and learning, told the meeting a single benefit payment was a "nice idea " but many people in Croydon lacked the "skills and capability" to make sure their "bills are paid and their children are fed".

She said the increasing numbers of families presenting themselves as homeless to the council was proof that people were not spending their money in the "right way", implying that they could not be trusted to spend a lump sum responsibly, particularly given the proliferation of bookmakers in the town.

Heh!

H/T: @fascistCOW via Twitter