Telford Crisis Support's Simon Lellow talks to us about food banks, baby banks, and the huge need for there services in the area.
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00:00 My name's Simon and I'm the Operations Manager for Telford Crisis Support.
00:05 And what has the preparations been here in the lead up to Easter?
00:09 We always try and make sure that we can, during the seasonal times,
00:13 is to give people alongside the food support the traditional things like Easter eggs,
00:19 which you can probably see lying around all over the place in abundance, which is fantastic.
00:24 We do that because everybody expects to have basic items in the food parcel which we try and provide.
00:31 But it's nice for people to have the treat as well, that's the thing that puts a smile on the face,
00:37 it makes it more palatable, if that's the word, to have sought the help.
00:42 And because we're thinking about the people we're helping, we wouldn't want them to miss out.
00:47 So we're prepared in that way, but generally it doesn't affect too much our operation
00:53 other than little extras that we can do at this time of year.
00:57 In terms of numbers, in comparison to previous years, where are we?
01:01 Numbers have risen really consistently since when we first started the food bank ten years ago.
01:09 But certainly in the last four years we did 90,000 meals, then we did 120,000 meals,
01:18 then we did 180,000 meals, last year we did a quarter of a million meals.
01:23 And this year we're simmering at about the same level, just above, but not much above at the moment.
01:30 And we're measuring meals because it's more accurate than us doing in food parcels,
01:37 because all the parcels are different, different circumstances, different requirements from people.
01:42 We standardise around a meal thing because for us it reflects what we're actually doing rather than it just being a number.
01:51 So that gives you some idea, over a period of time it's increased a lot.
01:58 But it makes a huge difference when things like the cost of living payment go in.
02:03 So in February, for instance, the last £299 went in.
02:07 Immediately after that the number's full. We see that, so people are obviously using that money to support themselves,
02:14 which is great because that's what it's there for.
02:16 But that quickly then bounces back, and that's happened in the previous quarters as well, where payments have been made.
02:24 So it's difficult, and the food bank is only really part of what we do.
02:30 So the call on the other services has increased significantly.
02:33 The baby banker, for instance, their referrals were running at double what they were last year.
02:39 So it's still really concerning.
02:43 Certainly the narrative that the cost of living crisis is over is not what we see from our point of view.
02:50 Did you have any idea when you started ten years ago that you'd still be here?
02:54 No.
02:56 I didn't start here, I started somewhere else, but none of us who'd been involved for over a period of time with food banks
03:06 expected them to become a fixture, which they are now.
03:12 We're not the only food bank in Telford as well, so when we talk about our numbers,
03:16 that doesn't include our partners like Telford Interfaith, it doesn't include a lot of the local churches who do support,
03:23 and it doesn't include any other people who are offering things like pantries, community kitchens and other resources as well,
03:32 the gurdwaras and all the good work that they do through the various religious groups.
03:37 So the problem is much wider than we see, but we do see a large number of people, yeah.
03:46 Do you see any hope on the horizon that numbers might start to decrease?
03:51 It's really difficult because we've kind of created, in a way, a lot of our clients have been in a cost of living crisis for a long, long time.
04:00 It's not new, it's a term that's used a lot, but for many of the customers they've gone from a cost of living really into a cost of subsisting crisis
04:14 because the pressures and the increases of rent and gas and electric and hygiene products and food and councils,
04:22 every single thing's gone up drastically, broadband, your telephone costs, and all this has piled on, so it's dragged more people into it.
04:31 There's always a bit of a lag with issues like this because people build up debts as well in the background
04:38 because they're struggling financially, they don't necessarily want to seek help, and I wholly understand why I wouldn't want to.
04:45 It wouldn't be my first choice asking for help from a food bank, even as a manager of a food bank.
04:51 But the debts can build really quickly and then that creates this longer term problem that people can't just suddenly switch a tap on and get out of it
05:01 because they've got other costs that are dragging them back down.
05:06 So no, regardless of the political landscape around here, it will be difficult to turn things around from the point where they are now.