The Trussell Trust

[VeniVidiVicki]

It costs a foodbank £1,500 to join TT and £360 a year every year thereafter. in poorer communities without pockets of affluence, many foodbanks can’t afford that.

TT makes £500k a year from foodbanks plus all the donations. I’m really shocked than none of the donations go on food

 

[ContentCrunch]

Interesting indeed, I work for council children’s services and did a ring around before Christmas of all local support services to check their opening hours and yes of course our local TT branch was CLOSED over the Christmas period and when I spoke to them and said “so the last day we can do referrals is Wednesday 21st? shall I publish that with our networks? She said. Oh yes suppose we better had tell people (this was Monday) just made me think no thought for those in need whatsoever. I was cross. We are open. Come get fed with us.

 

[Lazarus]

I’m grateful to Jack Monroe for bringing TT fully into my radar. I do not get a single good vibe from them, im afraid.
they charge a one-off £1,500 for local foodbanks to join their network (but then have an annual fee too, which works out at £30 a month). They do not signpost to other foodbanks even when the TT aren’t in a particular area, because it’s bad for business.
im sure another poster will detail their £39m cash reserve in more detail.
I think they have so much money because it’s an easy thing to donate to them without much thought going into it, isn’t it? Not many people are going to put their head above the parapet and say they begrudge the TT.

On the joining fee, their website says:

We ask for a one-off £1,500 contribution towards the cost of helping set up a food bank, because the resources needed to get a food bank running cost us quite a lot centrally. After this, food banks give £360 a year to be part of our network. This type of financial contribution towards the cost of membership and benefits is common within the charity sector – we do not make a profit out of food banks in our network.

 

[lilyannrose]

There seems to be so much corruption and greed in the charity sector. I won't donate to any big name charities because of how much of the money doesn't go directly to the cause.

I also exhaust of the amount of disturbingly graphic adverts full of emotional blackmail these charities churn out. It's important to get people's attention but I would rather they show the positive side more often. I think people would be more inspired to donate if they weren't being clobbered by the aforementioned emotional blackmail in the process.

 

[Yel]

There's definitely a need for salaried positions in some charities.

Although for foodbanks the local grassroots ones seem so much more efficient vs one run like a corp.

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

Interesting. Lol

I’ve posted this in the JM threads but it fits here too. If you look up the most deprived areas in the country, then go onto the TT website, they’re miles away from them all. I’m in Blackpool and their nearest branch is in a posh village 7 miles away (depends where you are in Blackpool obviously). They’re the perfect fit for grifters like LadBaby and Jack Monroe.

ETA: and they don’t sign post to any other orgs. Even in areas they don’t operate so it’s not “competition”. Most independents will have the area they cover and then suggestions of other local help for people.

 

[Lazarus]

This comes with the disclaimer that this was all a couple of years ago so perhaps they have lightened the criteria, but it wasn’t just paying either.

Obviously they need to do diligence before having their name attached to a local service and I totally get that, so some vetting has to take place but the gentle thanks but no thanks case very much seemed to be that their “faces didn’t fit” for the lack of a better term.

The service was successful before them and is still running now.

The thing is though, most independent food banks don’t work on a referral basis and the TT do. They also want to pray for people which I personally find patronising.

 

[VeniVidiVicki]

Start a Food bank - The Trussell Trust

We'll provide you with all the tools, training & know-how that you need to start a foodbank, so that people in crisis in your town don't have to go hungry.

www.trusselltrust.org

Where I live we have a very successful food bank which provides food and cooking lessons and signposts users to other services. We also have a thing where you pay a tenner for lifetime membership and get heavily discounted food, cooking lessons, free holiday clubs, food deliveries etc.

Not attached to any religious organisation either, unlike TT.

TTs mission is to end food banks. They assume that that all people can be trained to get out of poverty. It’s a middle class patronising POV

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

The thing is though, most independent food banks don’t work on a referral basis and the TT do. They also want to pray for people which I personally find patronising.

They’re basically if Jack Monroe was a charity. All the right words on the surface but nothing to back it up when you dig a bit deeper. Held up by middle class people who genuinely mean well but don’t want to spend time investigating anything for themselves.

 

[Bwidge]

I've just realised that the poor saps who bought JM's 'this shirt provided three days emergency food' bollocks merchandise were properly had over. I wonder if that's what the TT objected to.

 

[Yel]

they’re spending a lot of money on research a year (100k+ in some cases). I’m talking the kind of research they gets people to spend more money, not how they can help their causes more. I’ve no doubt TT does the same.

This raises so many questions with the TT because they don't need to spend any time or money arguing that no one should go hungry . Literally no one disagrees with that.

So where exactly does all their money spent on research and promotion to further their existence go? The press releases and social media posts are barely one full time job.

 

[zetta buttons]

Personally i feel if your doing charity stuff then no one should be taking a cut. I understand money for bills needs to be paid such as electricity, the building and rates or whatever. However i dont think anyone should take a wage from it whats left after utilities should 100% go striaight to support the chairty. I think its disgusting people use them to make themselves money.

This is an honest question. No underhandness. I might have read your post incorrectly and if I did I apologise.

I volunteer for two charities, both of which have numerous employees. There are nurses, accountants, psychologists, counsellors, cleaners and chefs etc across both settings. Should they volunteer their services without a wage?

 

[Ensay]

I always donate food either directly to my local food bank or in supermarkets. Seems more efficient and at least I know 100% of my donation will help people who need it, rather than cash donations where money can be skimmed off.

 

[Yel]

From their about

"We bring together the experiences of food banks in our network, and their communities, to challenge the structural issues that lock people in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK."

With this kind of language it's really hard to tell what they do. So many of the problems with poverty come back to the spiraling cost of housing. They seem to mention that people don't have much after paying bills, but I can't see in their press stuff where they go for the root. It seems mainly political and bandaid solutions.

TBF this was on the ladbaby post originally whereby they were plugging TT purely to help feed people at Christmas...via their awful charity song....and I posted this because they don't donate food lol

Sorry my fault, always tricky to find the right point at which to copy over posts to create a new thread

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

There seems to be so much corruption and greed in the charity sector. I won't donate to any big name charities because of how much of the money doesn't go directly to the cause.

I also exhaust of the amount of disturbingly graphic adverts full of emotional blackmail these charities churn out. It's important to get people's attention but I would rather they show the positive side more often. I think people would be more inspired to donate if they weren't being clobbered by the aforementioned emotional blackmail in the process.

Re emotional blackmail it’s funny you say this - I got a rare physical letter through the other day and it had red capitals over the front and my heart sunk thinking fuck I’ve obviously forgotten to move a bill over or pay a new bill here (I’ve never had a letter with red writing on before!) and it was from a fucking charity saying some dumb shit like help us winter crisis? Fuck the fuck off why on earth would you send anyone something like that that’ll make their heart fall and then expect paying from it too?! Went straight in the recycling unopened.

 

[ATV2021]

Interesting. Lol

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

There seems to be so much corruption and greed in the charity sector. I won't donate to any big name charities because of how much of the money doesn't go directly to the cause.

I also exhaust of the amount of disturbingly graphic adverts full of emotional blackmail these charities churn out. It's important to get people's attention but I would rather they show the positive side more often. I think people would be more inspired to donate if they weren't being clobbered by the aforementioned emotional blackmail in the process.

I try not to give to any of the ones who do chugging (not including the buckets, I’m fine with those, I mean the people who want you to sign up to a DD in the street) and door knocking as those are basically ways in which they target the vulnerable to line their own pockets.

For example, how many of us would give our bank details to a random stranger in the street or at the door? But a vulnerable adult or elderly adult might.

There’s also a real issue with many of the big names targeting elderly and vulnerable people to get them to up their donations by piling on the guilt. Someone I knew through the food bank (fellow volunteer) found out their 85 year old gran with dementia was getting numerous calls a week from cancer research and others pressuring her to donate more and even after the family stepped in, cut off the donations and told the charities about the dementia, cancer research kept ringing to try to get her gran to restart the DD. Of course the charities directly say it’s third parties on their behalf but they KNOW this is happening.

ETA: and they absolutely rely on the fact people won’t want to be seen to be slagging off a charity to get to away with the behaviour.

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

I've donated money to my local one in London before. We always drop off food items in Aldi though as it's closer and that gets divided out by them.

Not sure if It's just for the more acceptable middle classes. You need to have a building to use. You need to be able to store food and you need volunteers as well too.

Maybe you could contact them and try to get a branch opened or linked to another already serving the blackpool area?

I know people serving the Blackpool area who’ve tried to get support from them, including a church (lots of the TT branches seem to be in church halls, so it’s obviously acceptable as a place to them).

I know of more than one attempt over the years as TT have made themselves the big name people know to look for, and while the responses have varied from ignoring to gentle “thanks but no thanks” one thing has been absolutely clear, the TT have no interest whatsoever in offering any help or support.

I also know they’ve been asked whether they could add signposting to alternative sources of support in areas they don’t cover (as the big name, people will go to them first in a search) and again crickets. Whereas if you go for something like Macmillian who are similarly dominant in their field, they have other groups etc included in their search so even if they don’t directly support, you’re not faced with “tough shit”.

 

[Sunflower91]

I’m always cautious on which charities I donate to because one of my friends has worked with a lot of them over the years and something doesn’t sit right when they tell me they see they’re spending a lot of money on research a year (100k+ in some cases). I’m talking the kind of research they gets people to spend more money, not how they can help their causes more. I’ve no doubt TT does the same.

 

[Merpedy]

Our financial information is all available online and our most recent annual report is for the year to March 2021. In it you can see £4.36 million went out directly to food banks in grants and £6.61 million was spent on food bank network costs and benefits. In total, 66% of our expenditure went to funding support for the food bank network, 17% went to pushing for long-lasting change, 11% went towards fundraising costs and 6% was used to run charity shops and other social enterprise projects which you can read more about here.

Does anyone know more about this grant stuff? I quickly looked at the grants available in my area using their website and a lot of them were very very specific and I doubt many people would qualify for them. Though it's worth noting I looked at ones available to people in their mid-20s so that might just be part of the limitation, though it's slightly concerning if certain age groups are being left behind

There's also this story: https://www.trusselltrust.org/2020/...t-money-into-pockets-of-people-at-food-banks/

Anyway, a lot of their explanation is just really vague to me and really could mean anything imo. What is 'food bank network costs and benefits'? Is it actually helping any one or is it just them looking at finances?


I always feel like once you get to big charities it's really dodgy and shady behaviour with money, even if they are doing a genuinely good thing for some people. Physical donations are always the best imo