00:00 A busy kitchen fighting a worsening battle.
00:03 The Gillingham Street Angels are on the front line against food poverty in Kent, saying
00:08 they are supporting 25,000 people a month.
00:11 But the charity's CEO Neil Charlotte says what started as a homeless charity has morphed
00:17 into something more extensive to combat a growing crisis.
00:22 The problem is we were a homeless charity.
00:23 We dealt with people who were straight homeless sitting in doorways.
00:26 That's not the only problem now.
00:28 The problem is everybody in society.
00:29 People in full-time employment, people in supported housing, people have got problems.
00:34 People can't afford to pay.
00:35 And who do you say no to?
00:36 Who turns up at our soup kitchen and we say, "No, sorry, we can't serve you"?
00:40 It comes as new research conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Trussell Trust reveals more
00:46 than half of those on universal credit in the South East are struggling with food.
00:51 With the spring budget on the horizon, the charity are now demanding the government extend
00:56 the Household Support Fund and put in place an essentials guarantee of support for food
01:02 and household bills.
01:03 We would really like to hear an increase in universal credit because I think that's desperately
01:07 needed in line with the cost of living crisis.
01:09 We know that people are struggling and we need to see that the amount that they're paying
01:15 people, you know, the minimum amount they're supposed to have to live on needs to increase
01:19 in order that people won't need our services.
01:22 We aren't supposed to be here.
01:23 We're here because, you know, the government aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing.
01:26 They aren't paying the amount of money they should be.
01:28 It may be a wet and windy day here in Medway, but in this van behind me are boxes of food
01:34 ready to be delivered to the Gilliam Street Angel Soup Kitchen.
01:39 Neil and his volunteers say more than 100 people will turn out and brave the elements
01:43 to get a warm meal.
01:45 And he says the numbers have been increasing in recent months.
01:49 No, when we started, we were probably looking after 20 people a night.
01:52 We were going around to where the actual street homeless were sitting on the floor.
01:56 And now that's grown sometimes to make it 200 people.
01:59 And that's a sign of the times.
02:01 It's bad.
02:02 Going to a soup kitchen, a food bank used to be a kind of a shameful thing.
02:05 Now it's the new normal.
02:06 In a statement, a UK government spokesperson said, "We're providing more than £100 billion
02:12 in cost of living support, worth on average nearly £4,000 per household, including investing
02:18 over £2 billion in the Household Support Fund to help those most in need."
02:24 Since 2010, there have been 1.7 million fewer people living in absolute poverty.
02:29 And we know work is the best route out of poverty.
02:32 So we're going even further, raising the national living wage and investing billions through
02:37 our Back to Work plan.
02:39 With more than 88,000 people on universal credit using food banks in the last month,
02:45 pressure is mounting on the government as people here in Kent continue to struggle.
02:50 Oliver Leeds of the Saks reporting for KMTV.
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