Free coffee and cake – We have an indoor venue if it rains.
Trade Union Socialist Coalition Against Cuts
What do you think can be done to make life better for communities like Hesters Way and Springbank?
With wages failing to keep up with prices – and uncertainty created by zero hours contracts – the government`s claim we`re in a recovery is a sick joke for most people. Austerity is still in full swing.
The dramatic cut in opening hours at Hesters Way Library – the lack of facilities for young and old – all go towards making life a misery if you are on a low income.
Coronation Square currently has several fake shops in place of the facilities local people need.
There`s nothing fake though about the massive increase in foodbank use in Cheltenham which increased by 400% last year.
What had happened?
-
Bedroom tax – The bedroom tax was introduced forcing many people to choose between paying for rent or food. This explains the enormous jump seen in food bank usage in Cheltenham and in many other parts of the country.
-
DWP sanctions – The total number of sanctions against claimants in the year to September 2013 was 897,690, the highest figure for any 12-month period since jobseeker’s allowance was introduced. Under this government the number of sanctions imposed have doubled.
-
In work but in poverty – More people were working part-time or on zero-hour contracts. Due to zero hours contracts many people have been taken off the unemployment figures, but there are an increasing number of people who aren`t classed as unemployed yet are having to resort to food banks. In February this year Joanne Mason of Cheltenham food bank made a desperate appeal for donations, she told the Echo: “We are in real need of food donations as our supplies are low…I have been involved here for five years and this is the worst year I have known it. think it shows the challenges people are facing.” Cheltenham`s foodbank opened in February 2012
Cheltenham & Gloucester Against Cuts 