Young people and foodbanks

YMCA England has published Food for Thought, an insight into why young people in England access foodbanks.

Key points include that:

• 88 percent of YMCAs participating in the research now have to refer young people to foodbanks and 79 percent of those do so as a direct result of delays in receiving benefit payments and punitive sanctions;
• 76 percent of YMCAs referring to foodbanks said that referrals had increased in the past year, with 40 percent saying that they had increased significantly; and
• In most cases, those being referred by YMCAs were young people living in supported accommodation.

To download the report visit www.ymca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Food-for-thought-Report.pdf.