Welsh Household Income Falls, Food Bank Use Increases

The BBC reports: 

Household incomes in Wales fell by an average of £80 per month in one year, official figures have shown.

Office of National Statistics figures from 2009/10 to 2010/11 say average UK weekly income fell from £373 to £359, with average household income in Wales 12% lower than the country as a whole.

At the same time over the past year, the number given food parcels in Wales has reached a record 23,000.

A report published by The Trussell Trust shows UK food bank use increasing. 

Trussell Trust figures released this week show that foodbanks fed 128,697 people nationwide in the last financial year, compared to 61,468 in 2010-11: an increase of 109%. Many of those helped were families struggling as a result of rising food and fuel prices combined with static incomes, high unemployment and changes to benefits. 45,898 children have been fed in the last 12 months

Fuel Poverty:

In addition the ONS “Measuring National Well-being - Personal Finance, 2012“ report states:

In the UK in 2010, 4.8 million households (approximately 19 per cent of all UK households) were in fuel poverty, a fall of 0.7 million since 2009 

Interactive map of Food Banks in the UK:

View The Trussell Trust foodbank Network in a larger map

Ecodesign Centre (EDC) Recruiting

The Ecodesign Centre are recruiting a policy-focused research assistant to work on ecodesign projects - http://bit.ly/qQUyJV - view job description http://t.co/yMMxI20U 

Research Assistant

Post No: CT7541
Closing Date: 21st August 2012
Salary: £22,475 - £26,779 pa
Hours: 37 hours per week
Tenure: Fixed Term until 30th August 2013
Department: Ecodesign Centre (EDC), Cardiff Business Technology Centre

Guardian: Sustainable development flourishing in Wales's green economy

Wales is fast becoming Europe’s testbed for sustainable development and what the UN would call “the green economy”.

Not only does it have three of Europe’s pioneering solar cell makers –Sharps in Wrexham, G24 in Cardiff and Dyesol at Shotton – it aims to be totally self-sufficient in renewable energy, it’s the only country in the UK to introduce statutory recycling and waste targets, it has put a tax on plastic bags, it has the impressive Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth turning out a new generation of clean energy engineers, and its local authorities are investing heavily in renewables.

Moreover, it is one only three nations in the world to have sustainable development enshrined in its constitution, and later this year, it hopes to underline its growing divergence from Westminster by passing one of the world’s first laws to force all government spending to take into account environment and social needs.

Read the complete Guardian piece here

Fairtrade Fortnight Campaign - Get Involved!

The Bridgend Fairtrade Campaign gets a boost with unemployed graduates, schools, groups, churches, HMParc Prison, SUSSED and BCBC Council all advancing awareness across the borough. Cocktails, coffee, cotton and chocolate all feature highly in all events. For a list of events see our events listing here.

They join the UK wide Fairtrade Fortnight Campaign (Feb 27 – March 11th) to highlight the importance of supporting producers and their families in the developing world.

The aim is to encourage people to ‘take a step’ in the right direction and choose a Fairtrade brand of food, fruit or even cotton. Retailers will be challenged to stock these commodities and join the trade justice movement.  Councillors will be lobbied to do more.

“Small daily steps will make a massive difference towards securing livelihoods in the third world say the campaigners”.

More information on Fairtrade Fortnight UK site

“The Bridgend Borough’s campaign is growing with schoolchildren putting on the pressure asking parents, retailers, food suppliers and all of us to change our habits and choose more FT commodities.”

“Nottage Primary is also lobbying and petitioning Bridgend Council, requesting more ethically traded ingredients for lunch. Many local schools already purchase Fairtrade uniforms” remarked Margaret Minhinnick, Chairperson of the Bridgend FT Partnership.