Corbyn attacks zero hours contracts on foodbank visit

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked zero hours contracts and welfare sanctions when he visited a Barnoldswick foodbank during his recent trip to Pendle.
Jeremy Corbyn chats to volunteers at the West Craven Food BankJeremy Corbyn chats to volunteers at the West Craven Food Bank
Jeremy Corbyn chats to volunteers at the West Craven Food Bank

The politician called at the West Craven Food Bank, following a rally in Victoria Park, Nelson, and a visit to the Jamia Sultania Mosque in Brierfield.

During the rally he had attacked the current Government’s austerity policies which he said were creating inequality across society.

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Mr Corbyn met with volunteers and discussed various issues including zero hours contracts, benefit sanctions and the problems people experience with the current welfare system.

Julie Bryan, chairman of the foodbank, said: “Mr Corbyn was already keenly aware of the extra support needed by some families during the school holidays, when children usually on free school dinners need to be fed from the family budget, and was interested to learn of the food bank’s policy of having available Brunch Parcels for families struggling to cope.

“The volunteers were pleased to be able to show him the extent of the community’s generosity in the amount of stock available to pack into food parcels, and he in turn was more than willing to pose for the #FoodbankFriday photo holding examples of the food items needed for the following week’s parcels, and so aid the weekly request slot on the food bank’s Facebook page.”

Over the past 10 months, the West Craven Food Bank has made over 300 deliveries to support more than 200 people in the local community, but they are aware there may be a need as yet untapped.

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The volunteers can only help the people they know about, so for anyone concerned about a person’s difficulty in feeding themselves or their family, the food bank can be contacted through its website http://www.wcravenfoodbank.org which makes available the different ways in which the food bank can be accessed, and ways in which the community can support the food bank by both food and financial donations.