Helping struggling families in the Wycombe area

Democracy and Local Affairs, Health and Social Care

Providing struggling families in the Wycombe area with food and financial support has been a focus for Buckinghamshire Council this last year, through close working with voluntary organisations and community groups to reach those really in need.

For many years now, the Council has been gathering intelligence and data for the whole of Bucks to understand where the areas of concern are and put in place sustainable measures to alleviate the impacts of food poverty and financial instability.  Historically Wycombe has had a high proportion of households in poverty, however this has become more significant following the COVID-19 pandemic with current indicators showing a high number of people claiming benefits and a decrease in job opportunities.

Working with the Voluntary and Community Sector, Buckinghamshire Council has been able to use both local and central government funding to provide struggling families with food and financial support over the last year.

Since the Christmas school holidays last year, around £1.9m of government grants have been used to provide each child across Buckinghamshire, who is eligible to a free school meal or early years support, with a £70 food voucher every holiday.  Over £500,000 has been received by families in the Wycombe area. In addition, a further £600k has backed Buckinghamshire wide community food schemes and food bank groups to provide more food parcels, run community fridges and help with energy and utility costs to those struggling to pay bills or put food on the table.

Using government funding, Buckinghamshire Council has also just announced its five-week Buckinghamshire wide ‘Holiday Activities and Food’ (HAF) programme, a fantastic programme of free activity sessions where eligible children (school-aged children aged 5-16 who receive benefits-related free school meals) will also get a healthy meal.

Working across multiple organisations and the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership, the Financial Insecurity Partnership is also being developed and piloted in the High Wycombe area, providing a whole range of support and intervention around financial insecurity and addressing food inequality issues and improving access to food.  Citizens Advice, Red Kite, the Department for Work and Pensions, Food Banks/Community projects and the wider Voluntary Sector are all key players in this. If successful, this approach will be rolled out across other areas as required.

Steve Bowles, Buckinghamshire Council Cabinet Member for Communities said: “The last year has been incredibly difficult for so many families.  More people have had to access to food and financial support to feed their families and pay their bills. Locally we have been able to join forces with voluntary and community organisations to deliver help into these communities.  However, we recognise more still needs to be done and together we are working to get people back on their feet.”

Arif Hussain, Chairman for the High Wycombe Community Board said: “During this last year we have been able to work in collaboration with some fantastic community groups who have helped us deliver care straight to the people who need it. Providing us with essential community links, we have been able to fund projects such as delivery 186 hot meals to 50 households over the Christmas period.  We are continuing to build on these relationships and improving our package of support.”

If anyone is worried about access to food or other essentials, and is not sure what help is available, they can contact the council’s Helping Hand support line on 01296 531 151 or contact the council online via the website www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk.