Tag: cost of living

Become part of a movement calling for Affordable School Costs for all

We’ve been chatting with the Community Organiser and Campaigns Manager of Devizes and District Foodbank, Alex Montegriffo, about an important free community conversation on Monday 3rd June, on the subject of the rising costs of school uniform……

A local campaign group of parents, guardians and carers in and around Devizes has been speaking to schools about how to make sure their uniform is affordable over the past year, and their campaign has now branched out to include support for a Wiltshire Council strategy that schools can join to make all aspects of the school day affordable.  

The original campaign arose during the height of the Cost of Living Crisis in 2022 when the impact of school uniform cost was discussed in Devizes and surrounding areas. In 2020, The Children’s Society found that the average annual cost at state-maintained schools per child was £337 at secondary schools, and £315 at primary schools. Families in Devizes reported spending between £200 and £300 a year on all items of clothing and footwear needed for school.

Research shows that these costs can cause families to struggle with other essentials, such as food or bills, or can even contribute to debt if money has to be borrowed to buy school uniform. This affects families both in and out of work. For example, one person involved in the campaign had to borrow money from a family member to afford uniform, and another had to take a Universal Credit advance which they then paid back. This is especially the case where there are multiple items of logoed uniform that can only be bought from a specialist supplier, as these tend to be more expensive.

In response to research revealing the high cost of school uniform in the UK, the UK Government passed a law in 2021 stating that schools need to consider affordability when setting uniform policies. Locally, the campaigns team engaged with schools on the topic of affordable school uniform and invited schools to sign an Affordable Uniform Pledge. Local schools were able to work with parents and guardians to make changes to their school uniform to increase affordability to the benefit of every family. The campaign also received media coverage.

After speaking to Wiltshire Council about affordable uniform and the impact it has on families, the Council launched their Affordable Schools Strategy in September 2023. This is much wider than uniform, as it covers topics such as accessible school trips and activities, the provision of free school meals, and making changes towards affordability to benefit both schools and families. These come under the headings of Resourcing the School Day, Enrichment and Opportunities, Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, and Securing Positive Partnership. Schools can join the strategy each year, and will get accredited as they take steps toward affordability. They receive resources, handbooks, case studies and networking opportunities. One of the resources is the Affordable Uniform Pledge, and there is a section on affordable school uniform.

As part of the final phase of the campaign around school costs, any family in and around Devizes can add their support to this strategy, and engage with their school to encourage them to become a member in the next launch on 26th September 2024. This strategy benefits all families, and engagement can be made by families working with schools in person or in writing to encourage them to sign up, with guidance.

To learn more, please come along to a free community conversation from 6:30-7:30pm on Monday 3rd June at the St James Centre, Devizes, SN10 1LR. This phase of the campaign is being organised by Alex, the Community Organiser and Campaigns Manager at Devizes and District Foodbank. Tea, coffee and a wide range of snacks will be provided, and please let Alex know if you’re thinking of attending by email, phone call, text or WhatsApp: T: 07483 377346E: alex@devizesanddistrict.foodbank.org.uk

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Danny, Champion of the Food Bank

Featured Image: Bob Naylor/WaterMarx Media

While The Trussell Trust created the first food banks in 2000, under Tony Blair, usage of them rose by a staggering 2,612% during David Cameron’s term as Prime Minister. It didn’t stop him barefacedly posing for a Tweet mucking in with Chipping Norton’s “Chippy Larder.”

Devizes MP Danny Kruger joined the food poverty hypocrisy voting against Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend free school meals over lockdown. Speaking in defence of ministers’ continuing refusal to U-turn the policy, he reasoned in the Gazette & Herald, “the problem is generous, unconditional, universal benefit entitlements trap people in dependency on the state and rightly enrage people who are working hard for themselves. That’s why I believe in a more flexible, community-led approach to welfare.”

To address local causes of financial hardship, community organiser at Devizes and District Foodbank, Alex Montegriffo, arranged a meeting with Danny Kruger last month, with members of Devizes community, and representatives from local charities; let’s see these “generous, unconditional, universal benefit entitlements,” panning out in the real world, shall we?

One hot topic was people living on houseboats, who’ve not had access to the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme since it began. Out of the estimated 550 people living in houseboats in Wiltshire, only houseboats with a permanent residential mooring are now able to access the fund, leaving regulations for those in non-residential moorings, like marinas, in the dark, literally.

Danny Kruger agreed to write to the Canal and River Trust about using their database of houseboat license fees to distribute the £400 payment, by taking it off license fees, and potentially using their offices as permanent addresses for those with continuous cruising licenses.

Another topic was the insufficiency and lack of flexibility of the social security system, with benefits like Universal Credit often leaving applicants below destitution level. A member of Devizes community spoke, “every day I see my husband come back from work exhausted. He counts all the bills and has said, if prices rise again, he doesn’t know what to do. He uses some of my disability benefit to pay his bills, and then pays me back when he gets paid. That shouldn’t be right in this day and age.”

If claimants get into debt, even more money is taken away from their Universal Credit allowance, leaving sometimes just £100 a month or less for food and electricity.

Long and complicated application processes, even for small amounts of money or basic support, causes barriers for those who need help but are unable to fill out forms, or feel stigmatised by the process. As a result, there’s £10 million of unclaimed Pension Credit in Wiltshire, a benefit which unlocks Cost of Living Payments. Attendees heard Wiltshire Council are currently in discussion with the community organiser of Devizes and District Foodbank to simplify the application process of one of their support schemes, the Local Welfare Provision, to alleviate this issue.

A couple from Devizes described their frustration at not being encouraged to work, and feeling judged as ‘lesser’ for not being able to work. Volunteering is not counted as work, despite the attendees contributing significantly to their community, spurring a discussion on the topic of the impact of part-time work versus full-time work versus volunteering on benefits, where the taper rate for Universal Credit discourages part-time work, and leaves some people better off not working if they cannot work full-time due to health conditions or disability.

Localising the social security system, so there’s more human contact and agency for recipients, as well as better advertising of support through local trusted individuals, was also discussed. Proposing how schemes such as The Homes and Money Hubs of Barking and Dagenham could be adapted to Devizes, as the Integrated Care Alliance already brings together some departments of Wiltshire Council with social prescribers.

If those with second homes have received their Energy Bills Support Scheme payments, but people living in houseboats are struggling, if people need more support than ever in the current cost-of-living crisis, if people feel they’ve no one to talk to, or are unable to get through on the phone for help with applications, clearly there’s lots of work to do; the food bank isn’t just about giving out tins of beans.

Suggestions were made of a community hub in Devizes, with support for applying for and receiving benefits, or developing the several organisations existing at the St James Centre further. Here’s a group conversing specific topics and looking for solutions to this cost-of-living crisis in Devizes. They meet again on Thursday 30th March, 2:30-3:30pm at the Cheese Hall in Devizes Town Hall to plan and implement a project in Devizes addressing issues raised, which might be adopted in the rest of Wiltshire; if you feel you can assist, please attend.

“It would be great to get more people there to plan a project, and also be consulted on uses of the Community Fridge in the Shambles,” Alex explained, “although Danny agreed to do one action, which I’m not sure has been done or not, we agreed that sometimes it was quicker to do things ourselves.”

Attendees agreed to act, as they can quicker than local authorities and government. Cameron’s defunct socio-political soundbite “big society,” in action during these trying times, I could scoff, but tip my hat to all involved with this, for their enthusiasm and dedication. Not only Alex, but Suzanne Wigmore of Citizens Advice Wiltshire, Richard Oliver of Devizes Opendoors, Graham Martin of Sustainable Devizes, Martin Elliott of Warm Spaces Devizes and Devizes Community Fridge, Kate Brooks, Sarah Cardy and Rachel Clarke of Age UK Wiltshire, and those active members of Devizes community, thank you.

Day-to-day, though, we can all help, supporting Devizes & District Food Bank. Currently supporting an average 220 people per month, over 1,980 meals per month are supplied, which wouldn’t happen without donations. You can download a BanktheFood app to keep up to date with their shortages while shopping, and drop off points for items can be found here.

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Town Council Register Warm Spaces Devizes

Like a descriptive paragraph from a Dicken’s novel, as similar across the UK this season, Devizes Town Council has provided information about a local “warm spaces” initiative, of which you need to resigter your venue or activity, if you can help.

Register HERE.

They will be adding a downloadable list of all registered warm space venues to their website soon. I hope we can replicate it here to spread word of this saddening yet essential service. Feel free to contact us if we can help in any orher way too.

Warm Spaces Devizes is a local community provision of safe, welcoming warm spaces that are free and open to all in Devizes and nearby villages. The spaces will provide a warm location, refreshments, companionship and information on how to weather the cost of living crisis. You do not need to freeze this winter.

This follows a similar pattern across the county, Wiltshire Council has created an online interactive community directory to help people find warm spaces and community food providers in the county to support them.

Access this HERE, to find what support is available nearby and across the county. Go to the directory and select your postcode area, this will automatically generate a list of what is available, as well as a host of other useful features.

Those in other locations, can find their nearest warm space HERE.

Naturally, they all suggest attending can help to reduce your heating bills. In this “starve or freeze” coming winter, make no mistake, this is a disheartening article to have to publish, particularly in an area assumed to be affluent.

While I’m pleased to hear such schemes are being created, it is clearly symbolic of the absolute failure of this government, and while county councils like Wiltshire continue to tow the Conservative line, I’m of the honest opinion they are duty bound to attend to this crisis. We will not thank them here, but we will acknowledge their efforts.