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Hygiene Poverty is an invisible crisis
Put simply it’s not being able to afford the basic toiletries we all take for granted; it’s when hygiene essentials become out-of-reach luxuries.
It’s a single toothbrush shared by the whole family
It’s using the same washing-up liquid for the pots, your hair and clothes cleaning
It’s having to choose; eating or keeping clean, but not both
Around 9 children in every average UK classroom of 30 live in poverty
It’s humiliating and shaming
It’s rationing toilet paper
It's fashioning sanitary products from toilet roll
The average weekly income after housing costs for people referred to a food bank is just £50 (State of Hunger Survey compiled by Heriot-Watt University for the Trussell Trust in June 2019). The median UK household income after housing costs is £110 per week.
It’s scraping baby’s nappy clean to re-use it
It impacts mental health and makes everyday life an ordeal
It’s being judged
9/10 people referred to food banks are destitute which means they cannot afford food or to keep themselves, their families and their clothes clean (State of Hunger Survey).
It affects more people than you think
Even those in work
The North-West relies on food banks more than any other region in the UK; the Trussell Trust gave out over 252,000 three-day emergency food parcels in our region in 2019/20 and it’s increasing.
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