Community groups have welcomed the prospect of new Isle of Wight Council support as the cost of living crisis continues to “bite so hard for so many”.
Pan Together, the Isle of Wight Foodbank and Ryde Aspire, which provide assistance to some of the Island’s most vulnerable residents, have given their backing to a proposed Isle of Wight Household Support Fund (HSF) worth £1,131,576.80.
Cabinet member for adult social care and public health Debbie Andre may decide to approve the latest tranche of HSF funding next week.
Support includes provisions such as a £25,000 Top-up Food Voucher Scheme, £250,000 worth of one-off food vouchers for up to 10,000 households receiving Local Council Tax Support and £300,000 in community grants.
The HSF is a Department for Work and Pensions’ scheme which was further extended at the beginning of last month.
The most recent 2019 Indices of Deprivation, a measure of relative hardship across England, found the Isle of Wight to be in the bottom quarter of local authorities in terms of income deprivation.
Pan Together is a charity that supports residents in East Newport which includes the Island’s most disadvantaged area.
In recent years, the organisation has provided lunches delivered to vulnerable adults, free children’s meals and food vouchers.
Rachel Thomson, community centre manager at Pan Together, said:
“The need for support for Islanders is urgent and pressing. We recognised the growing need for our community support and anti-poverty services back in the autumn of 2021 and sadly they’re becoming increasingly essential.
“We now have our community larder which operates twice a week and that has become increasingly busy.
“We’ve seen a three or four time increase in visitors just in the last few months.
“Things really are tough out there and the cost of living crisis continues to bite so hard for so many.”
Commenting on the council’s household support package, she said:
“In one way, nothing is ever enough but it’s a very good step in the right direction.
“The need is definitely there and any future further funding that might be available would be massively welcomed.”
Fewer people are using the Isle of Wight Foodbank compared to last year, though demand is said to be “steady”, with on average 450 people fed a month.
Manager Kay Lewis said the foodbank was unsure of what impact people losing winter fuel allowances would have, but was prepared for increased demand as a result of the change which was “absolutely” a concern.
She said:
“I envision that that’s going to be harder for everyone and I want people to know we’re here to help and support them.”
“We’re grateful that it’s there for anybody who uses it. However much we get is a good thing really.
“We have to trust our council to distribute that correctly so the right people get it which is I think what they’ve been doing anyway.”
Over in Ryde, Trevor Nicholas, chief executive of community centre Ryde Aspire said:
“We’ve seen an increase in people coming to us to use things like our warm space and our free community lunch and also applying to some of the schemes that we do around helping people with white goods and general support.
“Working people are struggling more at the moment.”
He added the latest proposed installment of the council’s HSF was “very welcome news”.
Ryde Aspire schemes serving “those most in need” such as its community lunch and transporting isolated and vulnerable people have previously benefitted from the funding.
It hasn’t bitten anyone who is on free hand outs. They are getting more free hand outs than working people are bringing home for working. The so called ”black hole” is being caused by those taking the piss out of the system who are claiming benefits. Some one needs to grow a pair and investigate the problem of the real cause
It clearly has, otherwise they wouldn’t be eligible for ‘free’ handouts…which is an entitlement, not free. The ‘black hole’ is being published, with scrutiny, tomorrow by the (independent, and with many fully grown pairs) OBR…I’d suggest taking a good look with as much of an unbiased stance as you can manage for clarity. Those taking the piss out of the system have always been and will always be there…that’s a given in any system. In terms of the social security system it has always accounted for less that 1% of benefit fraud. Today’s figures confirm the overall rate of overpayments is now 3.7% (£9.7 billion) for 2023-24, compared to 3.6% (£8.3 billion) in 2022-23. Overpayments due to fraud were 2.8% compared to 2.7% last year while claimant error and official error remained at 0.6% and 0.3% respectively. Note though that the social security pot also includes pensions benefits, disability benefits, social care, and Includes Northern Ireland also. The pot to be spent this year is approximately £316 BILLION pounds. Please also note that the ‘fraud’ figures also reflect the many legitimate carers who erroneously claimed allowances of over £1 a week, (due in part to wages rises taking them over the threshold and resulting in the entire claim (backdated) being called fraud. It wasn’t. Disinformation by those who simply repeat what they’ve heard without any evidence allow the real cause of the £22bn shortfall to get away scot free and the relative poverty we ALL endure because of it to perpetuate.
I would like to know how many self employed
persons do not declare the money they make,
they are taking the p*ss out of the system
more than benefit claimers.
Look at all the money claimed during the pandemic
by such persons.
Clamp down on the self employed and their dodgy
Accountants, the country will be quids in.
Small businesses, or the self employed as you mention them, were awarded bounceback LOANS on the basis of previous earnings, ie, it was in their best interests to declare as much money made in order to generate a loan decent enough to cover them during lockdown…which then had to be paid back. Again, the amount of fraud from Joe Public is tiny, in comparison to say, the likes of Michelle Mone (House of Lords) who created a company in order to fleece the UK gov’t out of millions in a time of national crisis. As did many many others with more money than you or I will ever see in our lifetimes. You’re looking at the wrong people.
I remember reading an article that said many
people set up fake Companies.
Majority of the world is on the fiddle,
so many persons are driven by money.