The need for free meals has increased sharply this summer – the City Mission warns.
– It is deplorable. This is not how we should have it in Sweden, says the Secretary General of the City Mission, Jonas Wihlstrand.
For many children who live in vulnerability, the summer holidays mean missing out on a meal a day. Now the city mission is sounding the alarm that the need for free meals has increased sharply this summer.
Several days a week, the organization serves free lunch and dinner at Stadsmissionen’s meeting places, among others in Vårberg in southern Stockholm, where the venue was filled with families with children when TV4 Nyheterna was visiting.
The single mother “Anna”, who wishes to remain anonymous, comes to the site almost every day during the summer with her four-year-old son.
– It’s mostly the economy, not having enough money to be able to give him what he wants.
It feels hard, she tells TV4 Nyheterna.
– You want to be able to give your child everything, she continues.
Doubling the number of visitors
Recession and higher food prices have contributed to a tougher financial situation for many families with children. In several cities, the number of visitors to the City Mission has doubled this year compared to last summer.
According to the Secretary General of the City Mission, the need has not been this great since the 90s.
– Another difference from the previous year is that more and more people even come here and eat and leave. Someone has received an order from mother to go eat at the Stadsmissionen. It is a change I have seen in several places in the country, says the City Mission’s secretary general, Jonas Wihlstrand.
– It is deplorable. This is not how we should have it in Sweden. We are going in a completely different direction now, he continues.
“Anna” tells us that it is not only single mothers who come to the meeting places, but also the unemployed.
– It means a lot to be able to come here and eat, she says.