Actor Charlotte Ritchie and singer-songwriter Joy Crookes revealed our ‘till-board’ installation near Finsbury Park Tube station
(Image Credit: The Trussell Trust)
Communities standing for change
Earlier this year, we launched Guarantee our Essentials, a new campaign in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) – and your support is critical.
Almost three million.
That’s the number of emergency food parcels provided by Trussell Trust food banks during the year ending March 2023. To be exact, 2,986,203 food parcels – including more than a million for children.
It’s a record-high figure, overtaking the peak reached during the pandemic. It’s heart breaking that so many people, including over 750,000 people who had to turn to a food bank for the first time, are unable to afford the essentials in one of the richest economies of the world. But we know why it’s so high and what needs to change…
"The social security system is broken. No one could cover the cost of essentials from Universal Credit. There’s never been any rationale in the system that links what you get with what things cost."
Polly Jones, Head of Scotland at the Trussell Trust
That’s why, in February, we launched a new UK campaign: Guarantee our Essentials. It calls on the UK Government to enshrine in law that, at a minimum, Universal Credit should protect people from going without the essentials.
And, since the very beginning, the idea has gained traction.
Strength in partnership
The campaign has been almost a year in the making, developed in partnership with social change organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
“The Trussell Trust have called for policy-change for a long time, but progress hasn’t been quick enough,” said Polly. “It’s a hard task to improve social security.”
"But when you combine your insight from food banks and people’s life experiences with the policy thinking of JRF, it makes us more than the sum of our parts."
Maddy Moore, Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager at JRF
So, the two teams pooled their knowledge and understanding, and got to work.
“We knew the problem: inadequate social security. And we wanted to highlight the arbitrary setting of Universal Credit,” said Maddy. “The fact that Universal Credit is randomly set, never based on the costs of what people need, is little-known – and a huge injustice.”
Then, for a policy to survive, the public had to be on board. “We had to decide how to position the campaign,” says Polly. “Using research into public perceptions, we wanted to show that life events happen to anyone – and enough support needs to be there for anyone who needs it.”
Our campaign billboard in Finsbury park showing how Universal Credit allowance doesn’t add up to cover basic essentials.
(Image Credit: The Trussell Trust)
Combining expertise
Focus groups and strategy days followed. “We brought together people with lived experience of Universal Credit, policy thinkers, communications people, campaigners, strategy experts, food bank staff,” said Polly. “All these brilliant people working together.”
A key aim was to cost up the price of a ‘basket of essentials’. Although the campaign calls for an independent process to establish the basic level of Universal Credit, we wanted to give a figure to add strength to the message. So, we used data to tell us the essentials people buy and how much they cost, and the team spent hours talking with people running food banks to check the numbers made sense in real life.
The result? The minimum rate needs to be at least £120 a week for a single adult – compared to the current £85 a week.
Engaging political leaders across the UK
Today, Guarantee our Essentials is gaining momentum. Actor Charlotte Ritchie and singer-songwriter Joy Crookes revealed our ‘till-board’ installation near Finsbury Park Tube station. Meanwhile, more than 90 organisations signed a letter to all UK party political leaders calling for the Essentials Guarantee to be enshrined in legislation.
Now, sights are set on the main target. “The golden aim is to get commitments in political party manifestos, ahead of the general election,” said Polly. And that means taking the campaign up a notch. “Think of big campaigns of the past, like Make Poverty History. The scale of change we want to achieve requires a similar level of engagement.”
Polly added, “Please join us to call for action. Because if we can ensure Universal Credit is linked to the cost of essentials, it takes us a long way towards ending the need for food banks.”