Food banks in Stroud have seen a twelve per cent rise in the use of emergency food supplies over the last year - why?

The main culprit according to Sue Beattie, who manages Stroud District Foodbank and its five outposts in the area, is recent changes to benefits.

She blames the rollout of full Universal Credit - the Government’s new benefits scheme.

“Under the UC system, there are those that come here who simply can’t afford to put food down on the table,” says Sue, referring to how UC claimants must wait for their first payment unless they get an advance.

“But once they get their first benefit payment, we might not see them again.”

While Stroud has had a trial run of UC since 2015, the full service wasn’t introduced until October last year.

And, lending weight to Sue’s theory, this rollout does fall within the timeframe for the food bank’s reported increase - April 1 2017 to March 31 2018.

The SNJ also recently spoke to man who had received a care package from Marah, a charity that provides free meals and advice for vulnerable adults in Stroud.

He told us he needed the package, which contained basic food supplies, because he couldn't afford groceries while he waited for his first payment.

One potential caveat to pinning the blame solely on UC is that only about a third of the food bank’s customers come for benefit-related reasons.

Not to mention that Stroud’s JobCentre underlined to the SNJ the ease with which claimants can get an advance on their UC first payment so they don’t have to go hungry in the meantime.

“People have been able to walk away from the JobCentre on day one of signing up with the advance in their bank account,” Mike Nicholls, who has been managing the UC rollout in Stroud, told the SNJ.

Another theory - one that Sue doesn’t rule out - is that people in the Stroud area are just more aware of food banks and their services.

This might be because authorities in the area have also gotten better at advertising the banks and identifying and referring those in need.

So, is the increase here to stay?

If Sue is right that Universal Credit lies behind the spike, then, unless the Government changes direction, she thinks Stroud food banks will see the higher use continue.

But even if Sue is wrong and it's just more awareness, then that also potentially means the spike stays.

In any case, Sue asks that people keep donating to help Stroud's foodbanks with their work.

Visit strouddistrict.foodbank.org.uk for more info.