A FOODBANK manager is warning that more than a million people in the UK could be left unable to afford food and essentials when the cut to Universal Credit hits in October.

The Universal Credit £20-a-week top up will end on October 1. 

Rachel Round, manager at Rhyl Foodbank, shared her concerns commenting that she, and her team of volunteers, did not know how people would cope.

"People are going to struggle to survive because they are already struggling. Taking this money away, when it was already a small amount in the first place, is only going to make things harder.

“We are seeing an increase in people coming and Covid-19 is hitting the area again which has a knock-on effect. Cutting Universal Credit could be the difference between having a hot meal one day or not and this is hitting as winter comes."

Rhyl Foodbank, part of anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust’s network, gave out on average 10 food parcels a week before Covid-19 hit – but this rose to almost 30 a week during the start of the pandemic.

The food bank is currently giving out as many as 20 food parcels a week.

She added: “We want to reduce this number of parcels because emergency food is not the answer. People should have enough money to get by. But this cut is going to drive numbers up yet further.”

Rachel is urging people to support the national Keep the Lifeline campaign and write to their MP calling for the government to reverse this cut. Visit: www.trusselltrust.org/KeepTheLifeline

Garry Lemon, director of Policy and Research at the Trussell Trust, said: “Millions of people could be forced to turn to food banks as the UK government plans to cut Universal Credit payments by £20 a week this October.

“Cutting this lifeline will be a devastating blow for millions of households already struggling to make ends meet. It would be wrong of the government to take away £20 a week from already precarious incomes and push even more people through the doors of food banks.

“But it doesn’t have to be like this. The answer must be to ensure our social security system provides people with enough money to cover the essentials. At the very least we’re saying this October, the government must choose to protect people and choose to keep the lifeline."

Millions of people have been given £20 a week extra to help them get through the coronavirus pandemic. This started in April 2020 and the extra cash is described as "only temporary".