“Five years ago, we helped just under 5,000 people a year. And for the last three years, we’ve helped about 20,000.”
Paul Harris is Assistant Manager at Salford Foodbank(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
On the last Friday before Christmas, as offices across MediaCity empty out for the holidays, one corner of Salford is only getting busier.
Inside Salford Foodbank, volunteers move at pace, stacking crates and packing bags with fresh food, tins and toiletries ready to be sent out to its centres before the big day.
It’s their busiest period of the year. And this Christmas, demand remains high. For many families here, the cost of living crisis hasn’t eased – it’s still grinding on, unchanged.
“Five years ago, we helped just under 5,000 people a year,” Paul Harris, Assistant Manager at Salford Foodbank, told the Manchester Evening News. “And for the last three years, we’ve helped about 20,000.”
“It’s not talked about in the media anymore, but the cost of living crisis is still very much real. Energy bills are still fluctuating, inflation is continuing to be high,” he added.
Winter is consistently the busiest season for food banks – and according to Paul, everything just gets even busier before Christmas.
Salford Foodbank spend an average of £12,000 a month on food(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“The need for food parcels gets busier. The pressures of Christmas really sort of stretch families,” he explained. “The weather getting colder puts challenges on people’s energy bills and gives people different challenges.”
Salford Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust. Across the UK, the charity is bracing for another winter of record demand, expecting to provide a food parcel every 10 seconds. Over a quarter of a million food parcels were provided for children last winter – more than one in every three parcels, according to figures by Trussell. And the level of support provided to people aged 65 and over last winter was three times higher than before the pandemic.
But worryingly, over half of Trussell community food banks said preparing for this winter felt harder than ever, as levels of need continue to outpace donations. Many say they are at breaking point and having to purchase significant amounts of food just to keep up. To meet the demand, Salford Foodbank brings in extra hands.
“We get more volunteers, we get corporate teams to come and give us a lot of energy and effort, which is great,” said Paul. “We are really fortunate that at Christmas we are so well supported – lots of local corporates, churches, and schools do collections and extra donations for us.”
Salford Foodbank has launched a winter appeal (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
“The reality is, though, that we have stayed at this level of being overstretched and we haven’t gone down,” he added. “January and February will be almost as busy as Christmas, but we won’t get nearly as much support from people sort of clubbing together because it’s Christmas.”
This year, Salford Foodbank has launched a winter appeal for money – for the first time ever. Paul said the aim is to help fund operations of the food bank, but also to buy essential food items for its clients.
“Our numbers have been so high for three years now, we’re using up the reserves that we had,” he said. “We’re averaging £12,000 a month spent on food at the moment, which is obviously huge.”
But the impact the centres have on families across Salford can’t be understated. Donations get sorted by volunteers at the central warehouse near MediaCity UK, while volunteers empty different collection bins across Salford.
Volunteers sort donations at Salford Foodbank(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Hundreds of food parcels then get sent to one of seven centres across the borough, where residents not only come to receive essential food items and toiletries, but also find warmth, advice and connection.
“They’ll get a cup of tea, a chance to sort of sit and have a chat with somebody, but also the food they need to help them through the crisis they’re in,” Paul explained. “We also have financial advisers at our centres to help people work through the longer term challenges they’re facing.
“I guess the parcel is almost firefighting, but actually, what can we do that’s going to help them long term and not need to come back to us?”
This year, Paul said what’s stayed with him has been ‘the breadth of challenges people are facing’.
“Almost every story is different and they’ve found themselves in difficulty for so many different reasons. Just when you think you might have seen it all or heard it all, somebody comes in with another unique set of problems,” he said. “That’s heartbreaking to see.”
Mervyn Gledhill is foodbank coordinator(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Mervyn Gledhill, who works as the foodbank coordinator told the M.E.N he’s proud of everything the Salford centres do, especially at Christmas.
“I’m not proud that we have to do it,” he said. “But I’m proud of the way we do it.”
Salford Foodbank’s winter appeal can be found by clicking the link here – or via its website at salford.foodbank.org.uk