Charities sign open letter to Rishi Sunak urging him to act over link between suicide & cost of living crisis

Nineteen charities have signed an open letter to prime minister Rishi Sunak to prevent a rise in the number of people taking their own lives due to the increasing cost of living crisis. Amongst those to have signed are the Samaritans and mental health charity Mind.

The letter points out how the cost of living crisis is impacting communities across the UK. They added that 94 per cent of people accessing food parcels from food banks such as Trussell Trust are experiencing destitution. This means that they are well below the poverty line and cannot afford the essentials to eat, stay warm and dry, and keep clean.