Having read your article about the fantastic work that is done at Todmorden Food drop in, I am writing to pick up the challenge laid down by Janet Garner to make a stand for hungry people.
Having volunteered for the food drop in and having previously worked for Child Poverty Action Group, issues of poverty and low wages are hugely important to me.
The work done by food banks such as the one in Todmorden is fantastic but it is a sticking plaster, not a solution or a welfare policy. It is a sad fact that 67 per cent of children in poverty have at least one parent in work and the average family in Yorkshire is over £1800 worse off because of the coalition’s cost-of-living crisis with prices continuing to rise faster than wages.
Of course those who can work should work, but the vast majority of those who are unemployed find themselves out of work because there aren’t the jobs there. We need sustainable economic growth which benefits people here in Calder Valley rather than just London bankers, with local businesses encouraged to follow Calderdale Council’s lead in becoming Living Wage employers.
Josh Fenton-Glynn
Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Calder Valley