'Tropic’s generous donation of £150,000 helps the Trussell Trust provide 12 months’ worth of vital operational support to 25 food bank centres across the UK, helping to ensure they are able to meet the need for emergency food in their communities!'
- The Trussell Trust
We developed Keep It Clean and Calm Balm in response to the coronavirus pandemic, initially giving them out to NHS hospitals across the UK for clinical and non-clinical staff.
Moving forwards, we knew we wanted to make these products accessible to everyone, and it was essential to us that, in doing so, they would continue to serve a greater necessity. They’d sprung into existence as a response to a societal need, so we thought long and hard about which organisation we could partner with to ensure the impact of their proceeds would be most keenly felt.
When we discovered the work of the Trussell Trust, we immediately knew it was a no brainer – we’d found our partnership. It supports a nationwide network of food banks, providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
The pandemic has only served to exacerbate the levels of food insecurity within the nation. Research from the Trussell Trust’s State Of Hunger report found that, compared to this time five years ago, the need for food banks in their network has increased by 128% and 1.5 million UK households reported having experienced food insecurity in the previous week in July 2020.
Those levels of insecurity also fell along previously existing lines of inequality, meaning those who were already marginalised or more vulnerable members of society bore the brunt of their effects. Young people trying to make their start in life; single parents trying to support their children; renters at the whim of a cutthroat housing market; ethnic minorities who face discrimination; people already in ill health who were isolated during the pandemic. The State Of Hunger report shows that all of these groups had a higher risk of food insecurity.
On average, people seeking the help of food banks going into the pandemic had just £248 a month to survive on after housing costs. That money needs to cover energy and water costs, council tax, food, and other essentials – a figure that’s completely unacceptable for one person, let alone the many instances where that small sum needs to stretch to cover an entire family. It’s time for change, and that will only be possible as we raise our voices together to call for an end to the need for food banks.
Earlier this month, our team visited one of the Trussell Trust’s food banks to volunteer for the day and see all of their hard work in action. Having the opportunity to be on the front lines with them and observe the difference they’re making in people’s lives was a real wakeup call to the stark reality of the fact that food insecurity exists in such large swathes, right there below the polished veneer of comfort that many of us take for granted. The work of the Trust isn’t taking place invisibly in a remote corner of the globe, it’s right there in front of us – it’s most likely giving people in your local community the support they need to keep going.
The Trussell Trust doesn’t want that to be the case. None of us do. Nobody should want to live in a world where children go hungry. Where single mothers live a life of struggle from one mouthful to the next, constantly worrying where their family’s next meal will come from. Where people are priced out of their homes and displaced, unable to find food. There shouldn’t be a need for the Trussell Trust, but the tragic and harsh reality is the fact that that need exists. And all the while it does so, we want to do everything we can to support them in their vital work.
Thank you to anyone who’s bought Keep It Clean or Calm Balm and allowed us to continue standing behind the Trussell Trust. Together, we hope we can create a world where no one in the UK goes hungry and a future where food banks are consigned to the history books.