About

Campaigning

We are Wirral Community Foodbank Campaigners, a volunteer campaigning group of people who have had to use the foodbank at some point in our lives, faced financial insecurity or have worked/volunteered on foodbank projects

We are local to Wirral and want to see less people having to use the foodbank and to help make changes in order to alleviate poverty.

We are supported by Wirral foodbank and Trussel.

 We are running two very important campaigns as mentioned below. We think you will find they are interrelated.

 

Interested in getting involved?

We hold an open meeting once a month for anyone who is interested in getting involved to come along and learn more about what we are campaigning on, what are group is doing and to take your first step in getting involved in positive community action! Our meetings are a safe space for people who have lived experience of financial hardship. We meet every first Wednesday of the month from 11:00-13:00 at St James Centre, 334 Laird Street,  Birkenhead, CH41 7AL. We communicate via whatsapp and e-mail and have flexible volunteering roles.

Get the chance to be part of a national and local movement to end the need for foodbanks, create community whilst improving your own local area, making friendships, learning skills such as facilitation, research, social media, influencing and team work. An opportunity to channel your frustrations into positive change!

Community Campaigner Role description: Community-Campaigner-Volunteer-Role-Profile

Reach out to our community organiser Beth Saunders on 07894919477 or [email protected] for a chat!

We are starting a new campaign soon about converting empty buildings into affordable houses, let us know if you wish to be involved!

 

 

Council Tax Reduction Scheme action!

E-mail your  councillor/ MP with this letter. Don’t forget to add your Wirral postcode!

Template Letter to Councillor/MP

Who is my councillor? Your Councillors | Wirral Council

Who is my MP? Find your MP – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament

 

We would be grateful if you could take urgent action about Wirral Council’s Council Tax Reduction Scheme. The Council’s Policy and Resources Committee are voting on the proposals at next Wednesday’s meeting on 14th January.

 

The Council is going ahead for approval of the Proposals to reduce council tax support to only 50% meaning that residents living on the lowest income will have to pay a minimum of £50-80 per month more than they were 2 years ago when council tax reduction was a maximum of 100%. It is likely that the council will ahead, despite public opposition as outlined in the paper through the Council’s consultation process (853 responses with 71% opposing).

 

Whilst many people associate Wirral with wealth, the borough is in fact home to some of the top 1% deprived areas in the country (central Birkenhead). Wirral Foodbank consistently supports 200-300 people every week with emergency food. We cannot fail our neighbours and community and continue to worsen poverty. How deprived is Wirral 016C? | Local Deprivation Explorer 2025 Is this how a fair society looks?

 

We predict that many people will not be able to pay the increased costs, leaving the council without the extra funds they desire. Others will unknowingly pay through deductions of Universal Credit etc and be left with even less money than they are currently paying. Our recent short survey in Bidston St James Birkenhead showed that most people do not know how much council tax they pay as it comes out of their Universal Credit as an automatic deduction. This was very concerning to us as it only happens when you are in debt. A recent foodbank client who is a carer for their husband, told us that increases to Council Tax led them to use the foodbank:

 

“Changed benefits from ESA to UC and it’s left us with no money for up to 4-5 weeks as we were receiving it more regularly before. Having to pay towards council tax now has left us short of money. Having to use car and pay for fuel for my partner to get to hospital appointments is not affordable.”

Anonymous, Wirral foodbank client 2025

 

 

 

 

Are you frustrated with the amount of empty derelict buildings whilst there are people struggling to find homes?

Join our new local campaign: Converting empty buildings into affordable homes and reduce essential costs to those on the lowest incomes

We are currently planning a new campaign to turn unoccupied buildings in the Wirral to affordable housing. When we say affordable, we mean the same amount as someone would receive on housing benefit or on a low salary.  There are too many people forced to turn to the foodbank due to high private rents, lack of affordable homes to move into, paying bedroom tax as they cannot move elsewhere or stuck in temporary accommodation such BnBs and hotels. We currently at the stage of researching empty buildings, who owns them, why they are empty and any other relevant information. If you know any empty buildings that you would like to take action on please let us know via 07894919477 or [email protected] or [email protected]

Guarantee Our Essentials National Campaign

 

We are campaigning for the government to ‘Guarantee Our Essentials’ for Universal Credit – a social security payment. The current rate of Universal Credit is too low, around £30 per week short of what is required to cover life’s essential costs and it is bringing a large number of people to foodbanks across the UK. We are asking the government to put a measure in place so that Universal Credit always matches the cost of living so that we can start bringing an end to the need for foodbanks!
The current rate of Universal Credit is not currently measured against essential costs such as food prices, water and energy bills, council tax and so on.  Support has eroded over decades and the basic rate (‘standard allowance’) of Universal Credit is now at around its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings. Now, nationally, 5/6 low-income households on universal credit are going without the essentials.
At Wirral Foodbank, 83% of service users are claiming some sort of social security payment. A statistic that is shared amongst many foodbanks. When we have spoken to people who use the foodbank about what has brought them here, Universal Credit is often the answer as it is simply not enough to live off.
We are joining hundreds from foodbanks and anti-poverty charities to campaign for this well needed change. In June 2025, we attended a mass Lobby Day at Westminster, organised by Trussel, the UK’s largest foodbank network. Delegates from across the UK met their MPs at Westminster hall about this campaign and with 700+ of us there, we are sure that we made an impression.
From Wirral Foodbank, our campaigning team, consisting of people with lived experience of using the foodbank attended the Lobby Day to talk to MPs about how the low rate of universal credit is bringing people to the foodbank, sharing their own experiences and arguments in support of the campaign. We also brought representatives from Citizens Advice Wirral and St Vincent de Paul society who work with us to support people who are using the foodbank.
This campaign has been running for over two years now and we will continue to campaign for this change in policy as we believe this will have the widest impact on people using the foodbank. The increase in Universal Credit will also save the economy billions in the long term through increased spending, reduced need for physical and mental health services, social care and more. It is also likely to help job seekers find employment as they can afford wifi and transport as well as feeling less anxious around debts and putting a meal on the table.

Write to your MP about this campaign! Use our Letter to MP template

Speak to your friends, family and colleagues about this campaign to help gain general public support for matching Universal Credit with the actual cost of living.

More face to face advice and support on money matters

The design and delivery of the social security system is the biggest driver towards foodbank nationally and locally at our foodbanks on Wirral.

People have been telling us that they wish there had been more face-to-face advice and support with this and some were not even aware of what services were on offer.

We are campaigning for three objectives within our campaign:

  1. To improve communications to improve access to advice
  2. For more advisers to be available on a face to face basis in a community hub drop-in setting
  3. More funding for advice services

Community Advice Hub

We helped open a brand-new Community Advice Hub  in the heart of Birkenhead to offer free, face-to-face support on money matters – from benefits and debt to energy bills and more.

Location:
One Wirral CIC, opposite McDonald’s on the corner of Oxton Road and Grange Road West, Birkenhead, CH41 2QJ

Open Every Thursday: 9:30am – 12:30pm

What is the Community Advice Hub?
Set up by Wirral Foodbank’s Community Campaigning team, the hub is part of a wider effort to tackle poverty at a local level by making it easier for people to access the advice and support they need. It’s a welcoming drop-in service designed to help residents get information, advice, and practical support – before money worries turn into crisis.

 

Who will be there to help?
The hub brings together trusted local organisations:

  • Citizens Advice Wirral
  • Energy Projects Plus
  • Wirral Change
  • CAP Wirral
  • Community Connectors from Involve Northwest

Whether you’re struggling with debt, confused about a high bill, affected by changes to Universal Credit, or just not sure where to turn – you can pop in for a free, confidential, and non-judgemental chat with a trained adviser.

Why it matters:

This service is aimed at giving people access to life-changing advice before issues spiral into crisis. For example. at Wirral Foodbank’s Foodbank Plus service, delivered by Citizens Advice Wirral on behalf of Wirral Foodbank, offers advice and support to people who have used the foodbank and often successfully results in people not having to return to the foodbank. Therefore, we know this approach works and now we want to have that offer to people further upstream so that they can access advice and support in a comfortable environment before it reaches crisis point.

No appointment needed – just drop in.
The hub is open to anyone living on the Wirral who would benefit from friendly, face-to-face advice and support.

Communications

We have created a leaflet to advertise local money advice services. If you would like some copies please print from the pdf link or let us know! See leaflet here Local money advice leaflet

We have worked with Wirral Council to advise on their paper leaflet about getting wider support in the area including housing support and mental health etc. We pushed for these communications to be non-digital to increase accessibility and reach the people who need it most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why are we campaigning on this?

A large number of people had problems contacting the right person who could support them. Many feel like they have to jump through hoops, feel that people have no real understanding of the difficulties they are experiencing and have to contact multiple organizations and wait on busy phone lines.

To be on universal credit, or other forms of social security payments, you have to be organsied, need a phone and access to the internet. We speak to many people who are struggling to cope generally and some do not have access to the internet. People with complex needs and those who are vulnerable are asking for face to face support and we want to help them access that.

Imagine if your phone breaks, and you’re living off £93 per week, you have to go to a hospital appointment, afford food and perhaps look for a job. You cannot afford to fix your phone and therefore cannot organize appointments. This is why we need more local drop-ins based in warm welcoming open spaces that people will feel comfortable approaching. This is why we need to clearly inform people about how and where to access this support and to encourage people to ask for help.

We are currently exploring ways to improve access to advice and support, especially for those on universal credit. Let’s offer face to face drop-ins based in local community centres and let’s make sure people know about it and feel comfortable to ask for help. Let’s help people navigate this complicated system, let’s create a service designed for the people who need it most and ensure that they get the support that they need.

We are hoping this will open up access to other services across the region. Many of these services are working hard to tackle many of the other reasons that bring people to the foodbank. We want to ensure that everyone knows about what is out there and can access these services.

 

Articles:

We have created some more in depth articles about the work we have been doing. For those who would like to find out more, click on the links bellow to read:

Stories of Hardship and Hope – article

Guarantee Our Essentials – article

End of year summary 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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