There may be a perception that all our clients at the Foodbank are there because of benefit delays. Whilst this is partly true, it is not always the case. Here are a few examples of those caught up in circumstances beyond their control who rely on us to provide them with food until things run smoother.
The first example is a young man who has managed to find himself work and is understandably proud and relieved to be back in the work force. However, he is meant to be paid weekly. It is now four weeks since he started and he has not received a penny yet because the only person who has the authorisation to pay him has been on holiday. He is hanging on by his fingertips and hopes he will get his salary by the end of the week. He then has to repay all those who have supported him financially during this lean month so it will be a while before he is back on his feet, despite having paid work.
The second example is similar but different – a lady who is working in a large organisation that made an error on the pay roll so she did not get paid at the end of the month as normal. This has left her in severe financial difficulties until the problem is rectified.
And the third example concerns a small family with two young children who had to leave their home due to reasons unrelated to financial problems. They were then put onto the Bronze level of emergency housing which means they are put up in a local hotel until housing is found for them. This is only meant to be very short term – a matter of days not weeks – but to date they have been moved to three different towns in the space of a month. The reality of this hotel living is that they have no cooking implements apart from a kettle. So we are providing as much dried food that just needs boiling water to reconstitute as possible. The good news is they have now been moved up to the Silver level of emergency housing so we are all hoping they will be able to find a home very soon and have a decent home cooked meal.
This is just a small taste of what we see every week and there are many others that we cannot highlight due to security issues.
And every contribution you make helps us help them for which many thanks.