THE food bank in Cowdenbeath is benefitting from the support of people of all age groups.

With the summer recess from Parliament now underway, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Lesley Laird has been busy in the constituency and visited Cowdenbeath food bank, at the Fountain Waiting Rooms, to discuss their work and the issues facing their increasing number of clients including the support they get from the community.

Lesley said: “I was delighted to come and hear first hand the incredible work that is being done at Cowdenbeath Food Bank".

Manager of Cowdenbeath Food Bank, Sandra Beveridge, added: “We have a lot of volunteers here and it’s an incredibly non-judgemental environment.

“People will come in, get a cup of tea, have a wee chat and go away with their food parcel”

Lesley Laird added: “It is fantastic to hear that there is so much involvement from the community in supporting the Food Bank.

"From Beath High School pupils fundraising and buying new shelves, to local shops doing what they can to help, and of course, the many volunteers putting themselves forward, some of whom have previously been clients themselves".

Hawever the MP added: “But we also need to step back and realise that we would not need food banks if we had a proper living wage and a welfare system that actually looked after the most vulnerable in our society.

“Let’s be clear. What we have is a deliberate unpicking by this Tory Government of all the progress fought for over decades by our parents and our grandparents to treat people with dignity in their hour of need.

“Sadly, the increasing reality is that for too many people and children in our community that safety net is simply being pulled away.

“This week new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been touring Scotland splashing the cash but frankly it’s meaningless because it fails to address the fundamental issues of poverty, deprivation, homelessness and at its heart the cruel system of Universal Credit that wreaks havoc on the most vulnerable people in my constituency.

"That’s why Labour are calling for a General Election because it’s time for this callous Tory policy and its Government to go.”

ENDS

Notes:

Cowdenbeath Foodbank is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 16.00- 18.00, Fountain Meetings Rooms, Broad Street, Cowdenbeath KY4 8JA