Helen Barnard
@helenbarnard
Director of Policy, Research, Impact, TrussellTrust Trustee NatCen. Former JRF & Pro Bono Economics. Author: Want (Giants: A New Beveridge Report)
Thanks to @benzaranko.bsky.social & @theobserveruk.bsky.social for asking me to set out some challenges &opportunities for the new PM as he takes office today. Reforming social security so it protects people from hunger & opens opportunities should be high on his list. observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
Delighted to share @trusselluk.bsky.social's latest 'Living Costs in Context' briefing. It digs into the ways that housing drives hunger & hardship and the solutions to unaffordable rents, poor quality homes and disconnected services. Read it here: cms.trussell.org.uk/sites/defaul...
Totally disagree with the proposal in the Telegraph for a National Food Service: - Hunger is an income problem, not a food problem. - Solved by ensuring everyone has money for essentials. - Not pouring money into food provision rather than fixing the real drivers of hardship. 1/2
Soul-destroying and dehumanising - the Timms Review is absolutely right, this is what claiming PIP feels like for so many disabled people. We see the impacts every week at food banks. Link to an excellent Interim Report below. And to @trusselluk.bsky.social solutions.
New vlog👇PIP isn’t working. We see the impact in food banks every week. Check out the link below for @trusselluk.bsky.social’s 6 common sense reforms to get it right.
Conan Gray & Lewis Capaldi both excellent at @roundhay_fest yesterday! The kids got v close to the front. We enjoyed a bit more space, only slightly tinged with: ‘I wonder how you find two teenagers in a crowd of 40 000 all trying to get out, with no phone signal? (It was fine).
Important choice this morning: - Do I want to follow two teenagers round town, going in every single clothes shop for 2 hours? - Or do I want to sit in a cafe & read my book while they shop? It’s a toughie…⬇️
Inspiring day at Hammersmith & Fulham Foodbank for the launch of the APPG cross party Inquiry into how Universal Credit is set. When 52% of people on UC face food insecurity, something’s going wrong! Join Parliamentarians investigating how we fix it.
The entirety of the UK just had a sharp intake of breath and a secret shudder.
I'm not saying our dog is a wuss* but she has just put herself to bed because there's a fly buzzing round & it's freaked her out. *She is.
Timeline cleanse: enjoy little Luna discovering water play 4 years ago!
Elsie would like a word. She sees what you’re doing. And thinks you Could Do Better. She thanks you for your attention to this matter.
See those plummeting labour market opportunities for young people! (In @financialtimes.com, @workfoundation.bsky.social research) - Big Covd dip - Bounce back. - Steep fall from 2021/2022. (Assume drivers incl cost of living crisis affecting consumer spending +AI etc hitting some entry level jobs?)
Just read this lovely (and short) fantasy book. The author has the most amazing life story: Naomi Mitchison. - Born 1867. - Nurse in WW1. - Open marriage in the 1920s. - Went alone to Vienna in 1930s to smuggle documents to socialists & help refugees fleeing Nazis...1/2
Little Luna 4 years ago vs grown up Luna on the beach this summer.
New vlog👇Alan Milburn’s interim report reflects what we hear from young people at risk of needing a food bank⬇️
I do love the neat precision of the ploughing in the fields around us this time of year.
Lovely day out at Hatfield House - beautiful gardens, amazing bluebells, and good to go round The Old Palace.
I finally bought lentils. Spurred on by also having a glut of carrots to use up. Spicy carrot & lentil soup is go!
Cat: Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! I need you to open the doors RIGHT NOW!!! I open the door. Cat: Fine. Now I’m going to get back on the bed & sleep. I just wanted to see the hallway. ???
Confected controversy breaks out over possible future trade agreement that will require British marmalade to be labelled as citrus or orange marmalade. Meanwhile, the marmalade currently sitting in my fridge wonders what all the fuss is about…
Elsie wants something. She wants it very badly. She wants it now. Sadly I don’t know what she wants. I keep listing options to her but haven’t hit the right one yet. 🤷♀️
I’ve been thinking about what happens if the Iran war creates a real spike in the cost of food, energy, essentials. Back in 2023 we saw food bank need peak - we *must* do better this time at protecting people on the lowest incomes.
