After the announcement of the merger between The Felix Project and FareShare UK, here is a joint statement from Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project and Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO of FareShare UK:
"We welcome the government scrapping the two-child benefit cap - no child should suffer because they come from a larger family. This move will have a huge impact and ensure hundreds of thousands of parents have more money to feed their children.
83% of the charities that The Felix Project and FareShare support across the UK serve families with children, and many of those people will be seeking food aid because of the two-child benefit cap.
This was the right thing for the government to do, as it recognises the long-term impact this restriction had on children’s lives and futures, and we applaud The Chancellor for removing it.
We also welcome the rise in Minimum and Living Wages, which will put more money into the pockets of working people in communities across the UK.
Finally, the Treasury has brought in VAT Relief that removes a financial barrier to donating goods to charities. This is a positive step, as it should make it cheaper to donate standard-rated goods to redistribution charities.
We would encourage the government to go a step further and consider tax changes that would make it easier to donate VAT zero-rated food.”