Church leader calls for community to support the needy

Thursday 27 February 2014

The Dean of Jersey has praised the local charity that operates an emergency food bank for Islanders struggling to make ends meet.

The Very Rev Bob Key says, while it is a sad reality of the times that members of the community have to rely on hand-outs to put food on their tables, it is also wonderful thing that the Grace Trust exists to help those in need.

“I would say that it is the responsibility of a Christian in a civilised society to make sure that all its members have enough to live on,” he said. “Sometimes people fall through the cracks of the benefit system and the charitable agencies in which the churches have an historical part to play - whether it is with food banks or food parcels, or keeping the issues in the public eye - in working for those people to have enough in their lives for stress free living. Of course there’s a great difference between the person who can’t work and the person who won’t work. But even in the latter category, we have to find a way of making sure that their children don’t suffer because of the failings of the parents.”

Nor was he surprised that in such a wealthy society as Jersey, that the Grace Trust is currently supporting an average of 26 people a week with supplies of basic foodstuff.

“If you live in St Helier No 2 district you might be living around the corner from a millionaire or someone living on reduced standards, particularly if they are from another culture. And you get rich and poor on the same streets,” he said.

He called for families to work together so children learned the benefits of a healthy diet and how to manage a budget, to end excessive household waste and to avoid children eating the wrong things.

“As a society we need to address matters as a whole. There must be economic answers but there are also ethical and social answers so we equip people to give a really good start to their children,” he said.