More workers needing food banks

The founder of a support group says she feels more working people and volunteers are facing “desperate times” amid the cost of living crisis.

During the pandemic, Leanne McDonald, from Wolverhampton, set up Simple Acts of Kindness in a bid to help people who were in difficult financial situations.

The group helps up to six or seven families every week across the city, Birmingham, and the Black Country, by distributing donated household items, including furniture and clothing, and acting as a signpost for other services.

Ms McDonald said she was seeing more people coming to them who were in employment, including full-time workers, seeking help.

Among them were teachers and nursing staff, many of whom were asking where they could access food banks.

“They’re highly skilled but unfortunately the wages just aren’t there…it was a surprise to me that many are struggling to feed their families,” she said.

“I feel that we are in quite desperate times at the moment.”

Ms McDonald, who runs the charity alongside her full-time job at a training academy, said it was especially frustrating to her that teaching staff could not afford to pay for essentials like food and household goods.

“It’s really disheartening to see because we’re relying on these people to teach our children and provide care and support to families,” she added.

The rising cost of living also had an impact on the support group itself, Ms McDonald said, with volunteer numbers dropping from about 10 to three.

She said this was partly down to some taking on extra paid work after struggling with finances themselves.

Simple Acts of Kindness currently does not have a base and is mostly run from Ms McDonald’s family home, while she rents a storage space for donated items.

Despite the extra pressure from the demand and decreasing number of volunteers, Ms McDonald said she would persevere as the support was “still needed”.

“I’ve had to find a good balance – my family are really understanding,” she said.

“My children live in a house where we have constant people dropping items off or collecting items.”

In a bid to try and raise more funds to cover the group’s costs, Simple Acts of Kindness has organised a fun day, at the Golden Bar and Grill in Wolverhampton, on 30 August.

Ms McDonald’s comments came after Citizens Advice warned people on the lowest incomes were “running out of options” in the face of rising bills.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research in March showed households in the lowest 10% for income spent about 41% of their earnings, after housing, on water, energy, broadband and car insurance.

That compared to 11% for those on middle incomes, with those in the top 10% of earners spending 5%.

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “For those on the lowest incomes, these unavoidable costs are already eating away at their finances, leaving their budgets stretched beyond breaking point.”