Cost of living crisis: Urgent appeal from Calderdale food banks as demand soars, with some' crying and apologising' for needing help

The cost of living crisis is fueling a huge surge in the number of people turning to charities to feed themselves and, in many cases, their children.

As prices continue to go up, so too does the number of families in desperate need of help.

Ben Ashworth, who volunteers for one Halifax food bank, said the people turning up for food parcels come from all walks of life with many in work that just does not pay enough.

“Some people are crying and apologising for having to come and get a food parcel,” he said.

“When I started six weeks ago, we were making up 70 single people’s parcels and 30 for families.

“Now, it’s 90 single parcels, and 60 for families.”

He gives up his time to help CTC The Gathering Place on St James Road in Halifax, where the number of Saturday food parcels being handed out has risen week-by-week from around 100 at the start of May to more than 200 by the end of the month.

The biggest rise is in the number of families seeking help. Volunteers are also delivering extra supplies to local schools and agencies who are distributing them to households they know are in need.

“We’re seeing a real crisis unfolding in front of our eyes and it’s terrifying and staggering how quickly it’s happening,” said Dave Fawcett, CEO of the charities Happy Days and CTC The Gathering Place.

“We’re sending 15 family food parcels per week to one local primary school and have been approached to donate significantly more because some children are eating at lunchtime at school one day and not eating again until the following lunch time.”

The Gathering Place also has a free cafe, serving hot daytime meals three days a week. The numbers attending each week has now risen to over 100.

They are making an emergency plea for food donations so they can keep helping people.

“We’re so low on stocks of basic items, like cereal, jam, tinned veg and toilet rolls, that we’re not sure how long we can keep up with demand if we don’t get more food donations,” said Dave.

They work closely with other agencies and food banks throughout the Calder Valley, and Dave said they were all seeing the same uplift in demand.

“We are collaborating with other organisations to provide support for other basic needs, both practical and emotional, to try and support our communities during this time of extreme stress,” he added.

Calderdale Lighthouse comes to Saturday Gathering bi-weekly to provide help and support to families needing baby equipment and essential items plus clothing, bedding and shoes from newborns to teens. More partners are being sought to offer community services to families attending for food parcels.

“People’s needs are very complex, and they are struggling on all fronts so this is a perfect opportunity for other charities and agencies to connect with them and offer support all in one place,” said Dave.

Local churches are also rising to the challenge by agreeing to become donation points.

Brighouse-based Focus4Hope is extending the help it offers as the needs of the community grows. As well as continuing its food bank, elderly people’s trips out, they plan to grow their affordable surplus shop, offer budgeting and debt relief support and back-to-work training.

Philippa Kaye, from the charity, said: “We need the support of our local businesses in order to be able to provide these services by helping us to meet the overheads that this community hub will inevitably incur.”

Hassan Riaz, one of the volunteers for Halifax Community Fridge said people are queuing for their help for at least an hour before they open every day, no matter the weather.

“When we opened two years ago, we thought we would help people through Covid,” he said. “We didn’t think that 50 families would be relying on us every day by now.”

“There are people who are facing the difficult choice between paying for food or their bills.”

How you can help

CTC The Gathering Place is appealing to the community to urgently donate food items.

They particularly need, jars of jam, breads, cereals, tinned veg, tinned tuna, pasta sauce, tea bags, UHT milk, cheese, eggs, fresh fruit and veg, rice.

Donation points include The Gathering Place on Thursday and Friday mornings, Tesco in Sowerby Bridge, Asda in Halifax, Happydays Cycles in Sowerby Bridge. To become a collection point or sponsor the food bank, email [email protected]

To find out more about sponsoring Focus4Hope, email [email protected].

And to support Halifax Community Fridge, based at Madni Mosque in Gibbet Street, look for their Facebook page.