Taff-Ely Foodbank visits Westminster for Guarantee our Essentials Lobby Day

On Wednesday, the team at Taff-Ely Foodbank joined our friends and colleagues at Cardiff Foodbank, Pontypridd Foodbank, and 700 people from foodbanks across the UK in London for Trussell’s Guarantee our Essentials Lobby Day!

We provided 3,728 parcels in 2024/25, demonstrating a concerningly and consistently high level of hunger and hardship in our community, so the day came at a vital time.

It was an incredibly inspiring day, and a great chance for us to speak to our Members of Parliament about the work we are doing, the issues around Universal Credit that we are seeing, and how they can support our campaign to ensure everyone can afford the essentials.

Guarantee our Essentials is a campaign to reform Universal Credit, so anyone on UC can afford food, toiletries, travel, and utility bills, among other things, so that they can live in dignity and not have to turn to foodbanks. We made clear that a UC system that guarantees our essentials would help so many who have used a foodbank and massively reduce hunger and hardship in RCT.

Diolch to Alex Davies-Jones MP, Sir Chris Bryant MP, and Chris Elmore MP, all of whom came along or sent a representative to speak to us and hear our concerns. We hope you will continue to use your voices to ensure our social security system protects rather than punishes.

We shared some photos from the day on our social media platforms, so be sure to check them out!

If you are interested in learning more about the campaign, are interested in getting involved, or have had experiences of hardship as a result of Universal Credit, we want to hear from you – get in touch with [email protected].