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Independent Food Aid Network

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The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) is the UK network of independent food aid providers. Its membership includes over 550 independent food banks as well as other types of food aid provider. A charity since October 2018, IFAN supports and advocates on behalf of its member food aid organisations, collates independent food bank data, and campaigns for changes that would end the need charitable food aid in the UK through what's called a 'cash first' approach to food insecurity.

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29-478: The network was founded in 2016 based on learning from Canada and is the second largest network of food banks in the UK. The network's vision is of "a society without the need for charitable food aid and in which good food is accessible to all" and IFAN advocates for "an adequate social security system, as well as fair wages and job security." In 2017, a list of independent food banks put together by Sabine Goodwin on behalf of

58-519: A 'cash first' or income-focused approach to rising food insecurity. IFAN's director, Sabine Goodwin, sits on the Advisory Group for the Scottish Government's plan Cash First: Towards ending the need for food banks and IFAN's work to co-produce cash first referral leaflets is action six in this plan. In 2020 and 2021, IFAN worked alongside Feeding Britain and University of York to co-produce

87-521: A food bank voucher. This means that they can receive a food bank parcel of three days’ nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food from their local food bank. Food banks also provide compassionate, dignified support and work hard to signpost people to agencies that can support with long-term issues to prevent people from needing to use the food bank again. The Trussell Trust runs two out of three UK food banks and gave out 823,145 food parcels from April to September 2019, of which 301,653 went to children. This

116-436: A minimum figure. Sofia Central Station The Sofia Central Railway Station ( Bulgarian : Централна железопътна гара София , romanized :  Tsentralna zhelezopatna gara Sofiya ) is the main passenger railway station of Sofia , the capital of Bulgaria , as well as the largest railway station in the country. It is located 1 km north of the city centre after Lavov most , on Marie Louise Boulevard in

145-526: A series of research webinars on Structural Inequalities and food bank use. IFAN is a member of the following wider alliances and campaigns: In December 2020 and January 2021, the BMJ ran their Annual Appeal to raise money for the Independent Food Aid Network. BMJ readers raised over £60,000 for the charity. The Trussell Trust The Trussell Trust is an NGO and charity that works to end

174-668: The "busiest and most difficult winter on record." Since June 2020, the IFAN has co-produced 'Worrying About Money?' or cash first referral leaflets first in Scotland, and since the end of 2020 in England and Wales. By March 2024, IFAN has collaborated with local partners including local authority teams, advice providers and food banks to publish 'Worrying About Money?' resources in over 120 local authorities. IFAN produces leaflets as well as interactive, poster, easy read and audio versions. IFAN champions

203-629: The A Menu for Change project. IFAN's data was used to extrapolate figures for UK-wide food bank use in the 2019 State of Hunger report. In January 2020, IFAN reported that 1,000 emergency food parcels were distributed in Scotland every day. Since the March 2020, IFAN has published data collated from independent food banks across the UK. Alongside other groups, IFAN campaigned for the measurement of household food insecurity and in February 2019, DWP officials announced that food insecurity questions would be included in

232-515: The Disability Benefits Consortium, Gingerbread, and Homeless Link. In November 2023, The Trussell Trust calculated that a single adult in the UK in 2023 needs at least £29,500 a year to have an acceptable standard of living, up from £25,000 in 2022. Two partners with two children would need £50,000, compared to £44,500 in 2022. 29% of the UK population – which works out to 19.2 million people – belong to households that bring in below

261-612: The Independent Food Aid Network revealed the scale of food bank use in the UK at that time. The research found that, together with the largest network of UK food banks (the Trussell Trust ) there were over 2,000 food banks regularly giving out emergency food parcels - meaning that, as reported by The Guardian : "the level of food bank use is far greater than headline figures indicate." IFAN's work has been coordinated by Sabine Goodwin since 2018. In 2018, IFAN started to collate data from independent food banks in Scotland in collaboration with

290-518: The Trussell Trust support over 1,200 food bank centres across the UK, providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. Food bank centres in the Trussell Trust network account for roughly two-thirds of all emergency food bank provision in the UK. In 2018–19, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network distributed 1.6 million food bank parcels to people in crisis – a 19% increase on

319-409: The UK, using this to campaign for change so that no one needs a food bank in the future. Working with the food banks in their network to gather evidence, the Trussell Trust regularly releases data on food bank use and is currently working on a three-year research project called State of Hunger. When complete, this will be the most extensive piece of research ever carried out on food bank use and hunger in

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348-603: The UK. The first year report was released in November 2019. The Trussell Trust supports a number of charity coalitions including End Hunger UK, All Kids Count, Lift the Ban, and Stop the #DebtThreats. Their own campaign, #5WeeksTooLong, calls for an end to the current five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment when people apply for the benefit. The campaign is backed by a range of organisations including The Children’s Society, Child Poverty Action Group, Church Action on Poverty, Crisis,

377-482: The annual Family Resources Survey . In October 2019, IFAN warned of the impact on food banks of a no-deal Brexit . In March 2020, IFAN reported on the impact of COVID-19 panic-buying on food banks. In November 2020, IFAN's now director, Sabine Goodwin, wrote in The Big Issue that food poverty is not about food and that Marcus Rashford's fight must not be a "missed opportunity" to end poverty for good. In January 2021,

406-579: The basic costs of living, and emergency support for people in crisis. Emma Revie of the Trussell Trust said, “What’s really concerning us is the steepness of the increase – 23% compared with the same period last year is such a step up. We’re really worried about what the coming winter is going to look like. “Our benefits system is supposed to protect us all from being swept into poverty, but currently thousands of people and children are not receiving sufficient protection from destitution.” The Trussell Trust also carries out extensive research into food bank use in

435-599: The construction of additional rail stations in sofia, including the Poduyane Railway Station to the east, in 1948 the Sofia Railway Station was renamed to the Central Train Station. The railway station was chosen to be one of 30 buildings that would be renovated, rebuilt or constructed as part of the 30 year celebration since the 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état . The new building was constructed in

464-408: The country's elite, the station was inagurated on 6 September 1974, with Zhivkov , the country's de-facto ruler being present to cut the ribbon. In 2002, the station and the area in front of it saw major renovations, with many more shops being built in the viscinity of the building. In addition to the interior being modernized, tensile elements of an area of 4,500 m were added to the surroundings of

493-651: The group wrote to the British Prime Minister to protest the "challenges and risks" posed to food bank volunteers during the pandemic, asking that the Government should not rely on charities "to fill the gaps left by holes in the social security system and inadequate wages." In August 2021, IFAN's Coordinator Sabine Goodwin wrote for the British Medical Journal , that following the policy decision to cut 20 pounds from Universal Credit, UK food banks are facing

522-662: The immediate proximity of the Central Bus Station Sofia . It was completely renovated in 2016. The original building of the Sofia Railway Station was opened on 1 August 1888 to serve the Tsaribrod -Sofia- Vakarel line, the first line of the Bulgarian State Railways entirely built by Bulgarian engineers. The building was designed by the architects Antonín Kolář, Václav Prošek and Marinov, and built with

551-517: The need for food banks in the United Kingdom. It "is based on, shaped, and guided by Christian principles" and supports a network of over 1,200 food bank centres to provide emergency food and compassionate, practical support to people in crisis, while campaigning for long-term change to the structural issues that lock people into poverty. Its main office is in Salisbury , England. The Trussell Trust

580-456: The needs of their community to provide help and support to local people in crisis. Generally, non-perishable food is donated by the public at a range of places, such as schools, faith groups and businesses, as well as supermarket collection points. It is then sorted into emergency food parcels by more than 28,000 volunteers. People are referred to the food banks by professionals such as doctors, social services, Citizens Advice and police, and receive

609-405: The new building started on 23 February 1971. Grigor Stoichkov, who was the minister of transport of Bulgaria, was present at the event and ceremonially broke ground on the new project. On 15 April 1974, the old building was completely demolished in order to make way for the new rail terminal, which was slated to be opened with a ceremony on 6 September of the same year. In a ceremony attended by

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638-462: The numerous underpasses, elevators, underground car parking and the plaza of the statue located immediately outside the building's entrance. The renovations cost about 56 Million leva (~28.6 million euro). The reason for this was that the station and the platforms were the property of the NRIC , whereas the rest of the structures surrounding it are controlled by Sofia Municipality. As a consiquence, many of

667-406: The participation of Italian specialists under Bulgarian undertaker Ivan Grozev between 1882 and 1888. It was a one-storey building, 96 m long and 12 m wide, featuring a small clock tower looking towards Vitosha on the façade and a second storey in the western and eastern part. The first station master was Yosif Karapirov. The Sofia Railway Station was renovated and expanded several times. Due to

696-589: The place of the 1888 station's plaza and garden areas, in order not to interrupt its operations during the construction efforts. Despite the lack of interference between the new and old building, the old terminal was slated to be demolished once the new station was near, or fully operational. The new terminal was designed by the Transproekt company under lead architect Milko Bechev. It included 365 premises placed around two underground and three overground levels. The building made heavy use of white marble. Construction of

725-429: The previous year. Over half a million of these parcels went to children. In the last five years, food bank use in the Trussell Trust network has increased by 73%. The top three reasons for people needing to use a food bank in the Trussell Trust network last year were 'income not covering essential costs', 'benefit delays', and 'benefit changes'. The services provided by food banks vary from area to area as they react to

754-446: The statue in front of the station building. the project cost about 20 million levs. (~10 million euro) In 2012, it was announced that the aging railway station would see a major overhaul, slated to be finished by 2014, but eventually delayed to 2016. This reconstruction effort aimed to only to modernize the platform sheds, platforms and the station itself, ignoring the surrounding parts of the complex which included infrastructure such as

783-510: The structures that were once built in ascociation with the railway station, such as the plaza and underpasses have fallen into disrepair. The following international destinations can be reached directly from Sofia Railway Station Central Railway Metro Station of the Sofia Metro is located under the boulevard adjacent to the railway station. The entrances of the Metro Station are located on

812-502: Was 23% more than during the same period in 2018. Insufficient benefit income caused 36%, delays in benefit payments caused 18% and changes to benefit caused 16%. Welfare changes like Universal Credit and the Bedroom tax caused increased food bank use. The Trussell Trust urged politicians from all parties to protect people from hunger. The Trust advocates ending the five-week wait for universal credit payments, ensuring benefit payments cover

841-477: Was founded in 1997 by Paddy and Carol Henderson using a legacy left by Carol's mother, Betty Trussell. Initially, the charity worked in Bulgaria to improve conditions for children sleeping at Sofia Central Railway Station . In 2000, they began to work in the UK too, opening the first food bank in their home city of Salisbury after they were contacted by a British mother who was struggling to feed her children. Today ,

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