The country’s next prime minister has been urged to visit foodbanks to see first-hand how the most vulnerable are being affected by the cost of living crisis.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak face calls by foodbank users to provide urgent help to families struggling to cope with the dramatic escalation in energy bills and food prices once the Conservative leadership race is over.
Foodbank users have told The Sunday Post that, without the charity they receive, they would be unable to feed their families and keep them warm.
The Sunday Post visited the foodbank at St Gregory’s Catholic Church in Wyndford in Glasgow, which is staffed entirely by volunteers and open five days a week.
Unlike other foodbanks, St Gregory’s does not require users to provide a referral from an agency.
It distributes 175 bags a week, comprising up to 20 items – including cereal, pasta, canned soup, tuna, tinned fruit, long-life milk and eggs. Toiletries, washing powder and washing-up liquid are also available.
About 40% of foodbank users are single people.
Phillip Folan, 50, said the foodbank saved his life two years ago when he didn’t have enough money to feed himself and his dog, 12-year-old collie Mitz. He said: “I hadn’t eaten for a couple of days and I was starving. I was feeding my dog before I was feeding myself.
“I walked past the chapel and saw people leaving with food bags. I went in and they gave me a food bag, which was a lifesaver.
“I worked all my adult life until I was about 40, but since then I’ve had problems with my health and mental health. But coming to the foodbank has helped me.”
As energy prices soar, he fears being unable to pay his electricity bill. “The help I get here means I have money to put in my meter,” says Folan. “When I am in the only thing switched on is the TV. I’ll put an extra jumper on when it’s cold or get under the quilt.”
The former forklift driver said Truss and Sunak visiting a foodbank would give them a deeper understanding of the struggles many people face.
He said: “I would say to the next prime minister to come and spend a day here. See for yourself how much of a lifeline this foodbank is to people.”
About 30% of foodbank users are employed but are unable to make ends meet.
Thangarasa Kajidhar, 40, found refuge in Scotland five years after escaping persecution in Sri Lanka, which saw him jailed and tortured. He works in a restaurant but the arrival last year of his first child, Akshyan, saw the finances of his and his wife Kalaipriya stretched to the limit.
He said: “The food we receive at the foodbank means we have money to pay to heat our home.
“We are worried about the cost of turning the heating up in the winter.”
Another 30% of foodbank users do not have access to benefits, including asylum seekers and people who have been sanctioned.
Shabana Sheikh, 42, said she came to the foodbank to feed her family as she and her husband looked for work. Originally from Pakistan, the former bank manager and her husband, a veterinary doctor, came to Scotland to study at university for his PhD. He has finished his thesis and his scholarship has ended.
The mum of two said: “My husband has been looking for jobs, but he has been struggling to find work, even a cleaning job. I have an MBA in management science and worked as a bank manager, but I can’t even get a job cleaning.
“We are not receiving any benefits and are worried about keeping a roof over our heads. Our country is so poor. But I am seeing poverty increase here too.”
Donations to the St Gregory’s foodbank can be made at stgregorysfoodbank.com/#donate
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