Mitzvah Day in Hendon saw Matthew and members of the Hendon Conservative Association collecting food at Waitrose in Mill Hill. Local shoppers supported the initiative by buying dried goods, tinned food and other non-perishable goods which were then donated to the Trussell Trust in Colindale. 

In August Matthew visited the Trussell Trust’s Food Bank in Colindale to see for himself how volunteers were providing food items to individuals and families in Barnet through a referral system and a walk-in service for emergency food shortages. He was so impressed by the initiative that it was decided that this year’s Mitzvah Day project would be to support the Trussell Trust. 

Matthew said: “If we look back, we see that under the last Labour Government the number of people being assisted by food banks increased 10 times. If we look at today and make an international comparison we can see that in the UK there are some 60,000 or so who are food bank users but in Germany, which has a much higher level of welfare payment, 6 million people use food banks—one in 12, which is many more. In an ideal world there would be no need for food banks but the regrettable reality of the current economic situation means that there is. What is heartening is that so many people are prepared to assist others who are less fortunate than themselves.”

Photo: Matthew with local Mill Hill resident Elliot Simberg