Great to write this with @sabinegoodwin.bsky.social for @labourlist.bsky.social: We must resist the normalisation of foodbanks. We are seeing action to start tackling the need for foodbanks, but we need more to turn back the tide of hunger & hardship. labourlist.org/2026/03/brit...

'Britain cannot normalise food banks: government must act to end mass dependence on emergency food' - LabourList

Food banks handed out 2.6 million parcels in 2025 – one every 12 seconds. The government must go further on social security, housing and incomes to end mass dependence on emergency food.

labourlist.org

How the Crisis and Resilience Fund can help end the need for food banks by IFAN's @sabinegoodwin.bsky.social for @bigissue.com #CashFirst

Big Issue@bigissue.com · 9mo ago

As new information is published around the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund, the Independent Food Aid Network's Sabine Goodwin shares her thoughts.

As new information is published around the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund, the Independent Food Aid Network's Sabine Goodwin shares her thoughts.

How the Crisis and Resilience Fund can help end the need for food banks

bigissue.com

A great day yesterday, we saw the government's publication of the Crisis and Resilience Fund guidance. This will be transformative for households on low incomes. See this piece by @sabinegoodwin.bsky.social for the Big Issue

How the Crisis and Resilience Fund can help end the need for food banks

As new information is published around the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund, the Independent Food Aid Network's Sabine Goodwin shares her thoughts.

bigissue.com

Excellent new report from @trusselluk.bsky.social and @policyinpractice.bsky.social on the new Crisis and Resilience Fund looking at embedding a #CashFirst approach to local crisis support and how the CRF can help build financial resilience.. Read the full report cms.trussell.org.uk/sites/defaul...

Scrapping the two-child limit will be transformational for children. This is a much-needed fresh start in our country’s efforts to eradicate child poverty and while there is more to do it gives us strong foundations to build on. 1/2

We’ve joined @cpaguk.bsky.social & 100+ others in calling for the government to fully scrap the two-child limit. Every child deserves the best start in life. By fully scrapping the two-child limit the government can deliver a decisive shift in children’s opportunities, and in the UK's potential.

Great to represent @ifanuk.bsky.social in Parliament this morning at the launch of @turn2us.org.uk new campaign. A brilliant event for a campaign that is desperately needed. Our social security system should be there for all of us when we need it. #stopthestigma #fixthesystem

I'm pleased to have signed the @bigissue.com open letter on behalf of @ifanuk.bsky.social on the need for Westminster to set 'ambitious, measurable' targets within its forthcoming child poverty strategy www.bigissue.com/opinion/gove... Covered here www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Today was about hope. Hope for a better Scotland where all of us have enough to flourish. To stand beside friends and colleagues and demand this loudly was a complete joy. #ScotlandDemandsBetter

Independent Food Aid Network member organisations are proud to be marching today alongside @trussellscot.bsky.social food bank teams, other campaigners, and people from across the length and breadth of Scotland We'll see you there! #ScotlandDemandsBetter @povertyalliance.org

The Poverty Alliance@povertyalliance.org · 12mo ago

📢Today's the day! Today we are marching together for a better Scotland. Join us as #WeDemandBetter March assembles from 10am (buses arriving from 9:30am) at Scottish Parliament.

Are you at #SNP25 this weekend? Come and join #EndChildPoverty's fringe event to hear from speakers including Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville to explore what must happen now to meet the 2030 child poverty targets Today Saturday 11th October 12:30-13:30 #Aberdeen @trussellscot.bsky.social

“We urge Ministers to drop these proposals. We urge Scottish MPs to vote against these cuts, sending a strong, positive message to disabled people and carers in Scotland that this Government will build a country free from poverty, not one that forces people into deeper poverty and destitution.”

The new Crisis and Resilience Fund 'needs to lead to the reframing of the concept of crisis. Inadequate social security payments, cruel cuts to disability benefits, the two-child limit and the benefit cap shouldn’t create hunger emergencies.' @bigissue.com #CashFirst www.bigissue.com/opinion/labo...

Can Labour end the need for food banks?

The Crisis and Resilience Fund could support the government’s ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.

bigissue.com

We're glad to be in Westminster today calling for an #EssentialsGuarantee @ifanuk.bsky.social member representatives from across the UK are meeting with their local MPs to urge them to act #CashFirst @charlottemwhite.bsky.social @trusselluk.bsky.social @trussellscot.bsky.social

Today is @abbypreston01.bsky.social's penultimate day with the @ifanuk.bsky.social...We are very grateful to Abby for her hard work and outstanding commitment to IFAN's 'Worrying About Money?' resources project (www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/cash-first-l...)

Cash first leaflets – Independent Food Aid Network

Find 'Worrying About Money?' resources for your local area

foodaidnetwork.org.uk

We’ve been talking about our #CashFirst trial — now we’re digging into the why. Week 3 of 4: 30 people receiving direct cash, co-designed with communities, rooted in trust & dignity. Cash in a crisis isn’t radical — it’s necessary. @ifanuk.bsky.social @sabinegoodwin.bsky.social 1/4

“If we are to see a reduction in dependence on emergency food parcels, the universal availability of crisis support via cash payments alongside advice and support to prevent financial insecurity is critical." #CashFirst @bigissue.com @liamgeraghty.bsky.social www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Labour reveals £1bn plan to replace household support fund for poorest families

Labour laid out plans to spend £1bn a year replacing the household support fund with a new crisis and resilience fund at the spending review.

bigissue.com

The Government also announced the Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme last night - £13 million to 12 food charities across England to redistribute fresh produce directly from farms might temporarily alleviate food poverty but it won't 'fight' or address it #CashFirst @ifanuk.bsky.social

Sabine Goodwin@sabinegoodwin.bsky.social · last yr.

Very welcome news on free school meal expansion that will help ease the pressure on families but ultimately free school meals should be available to all children while Universal Credit remains dangerously low and the two-child limit still in place #CashFirst www.gov.uk/government/n...

Very welcome news on free school meal expansion that will help ease the pressure on families but ultimately free school meals should be available to all children while Universal Credit remains dangerously low and the two-child limit still in place #CashFirst www.gov.uk/government/n...

Over half a million more children to get free school meals

New entitlement to free school meals for all children in household on Universal Credit.

gov.uk

Find out about our 'Worrying About Money?' resources project in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and the work we undertook in 2024... bit.ly/wam-england-... @abbypreston01.bsky.social @emmaosterberg.bsky.social #CashFirst

"If this government is serious in its commitment to the nation’s children, it can’t keep waiting for the stars to align before taking action. It must urgently invest in children and their families, starting with scrapping the two-child limit.” @cpaguk.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

No 10 delays child poverty strategy with tens of thousands more facing hardship

Exclusive: Flagship policy put back until at least autumn amid fears cost of removing two-child benefit cap will outweigh political benefit

theguardian.com

We’re excited to launch the next phase of Cash First- A Participatory Action Research (PAR) project tackling food insecurity in Lewisham with direct cash support. Designed with the community, with the aim to drive policy change. @sabinegoodwin.bsky.social @ifanuk.bsky.social

'Food bank volunteers might not be able to go on strike, but they can imagine a better future. And they can continue to urge the government to stick to its manifesto promise to end the ‘moral scar on our society’ that has swept them up in its wake.' @bigissue.com www.bigissue.com/opinion/keir...

Keir Starmer promised to end food bank Britain. What happened?

Food bank volunteers are having to face facts, writes Sabine Goodwin, director of the Independent Food Aid Network.

bigissue.com

🔥📖 out today, shares firsthand accounts of how the childcare system is failing parents on a low-income and sets out co-produced recommendations for how it could be improved 🔥📖 changingrealities.org/writings/it-... [Please read & share this short 🧵]

Looking after children is important and vital work; and it’s imperative that parents and carers have access to high quality and affordable childcare, both in order to support their children’s development and also to support them in their other forms of work: be it education, training, caring, or participation in the formal labour market. Recent years have seen a growing focus on the importance of improving the UK’s childcare offer, and we have seen a range of policy changes to try and improve what is provided and on what basis. This briefing sets out the experiences of parents and carers on a low income, and makes clear the distance that still needs to be travelled if we are to move to a situation in which all parents can access affordable and decent childcare provision. We share evidence of parents’ experiences and challenges around finding childcare that fits with working hours; systemic issues with affordability; and the pressing need to improve support for childcare through Universal Credit. There is also a need to improve childcare for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and to rethink how childcare support is made available during school holidays.

changingrealities.org

Book your place on our joint Scotland-wide Money Counts training course running next Wednesday 21st of May from 10-11am ➡️ bit.ly/moneycounts-... @citizensadvicescot.bsky.social @trussellscot.bsky.social #CashFirst

Read our @abbypreston01.bsky.social's blog on Paving the way for permanent crisis support in England and find out more in our joint report Shaping the Future of Local Welfare and Crisis Support in England - childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/o... #CashFirst www.foodaidnetwork.org.uk/post/paving-...

Paving the way for permanent crisis support in England

IntroductionIn the Autumn of 2024, the Chancellor announced a year-long extension to the semi-permanent Household Support Fund (HSF) in England from March 2025. For years, local authorities have endur...

foodaidnetwork.org.uk

Demand for crisis support is resilient: in 2024, we advised over 83,000 people in England on local social welfare, 95% more than in 2022. The many households who’ve turned to the HSF over the years will still need support after HSF 7.