SNP MSP Emma Roddick this week met with the team at the Shetland Foodbank to hear about what they do for the local community and discuss what action volunteers wanted to see from the Scottish Government.
Shetland Foodbank is a voluntary organisation which distributes food and toiletries to people in the Shetland community who are otherwise struggling to afford them. The Foodbank, which is run by Shetland Church of Scotland and affiliated with the Trussell Trust, can be found on St Magnus Street in Lerwick.
Commenting on her visit, Ms Roddick said:
“I spent a really interesting couple of hours at Shetland Foodbank with some of the wonderful folks who volunteer there. We spoke about a range of issues, from why we shouldn’t need foodbanks in the first place and what we can do to ensure that they become a thing of the past, to issues around transport and connectivity in Shetland ahead of my outer isles surgeries the next day.
“In the face of the cost-of-living crisis, places like the Shetland Foodbank provide a vital support service to those struggling to heat their homes and put food on the table.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that the stigma of poverty is a thing of the past, and the responsibility of governments to make sure that poverty itself becomes history, too.
“The Scottish Government has taken positive action like introducing the Scottish Child Payment and establishing a new Social Security system based on fairness and compassion. But the reality is that we will always have one hand tied behind our back by a UK Government which controls the purse strings and perpetuates the false myth of foodbanks as a ‘necessary evil’. “I’m looking forward to continuing to support the cracking team at Shetland Foodbank in whatever ways I can, as well as fighting for a future in which their commendable effort is no longer needed.”
Emma Roddick MSP 