I’m beginning to think that I need the food bank as much as our friends who use it. Not because I am in food poverty, thankfully, but because it’s become an integral part of my life. Friends who volunteered long before I started three-and-a-half years ago told me this would likely happen – something I liked doing, morphing into a bit of an obsession – and sure enough my weekly stint is now something that sits first in my diary.
What convinced me has been today’s experience when I went along, after a huge disappointment in my life that occurred yesterday, leaving me very low and more than a little depressed. The fog that appeared to be inhabited my brain seemed to evaporate, the more I got into it.
My little volunteering stint gives me a little self-worth, something that has not always been present in my life. I always felt inadequate in my schooldays, which carried on through my working life. Because I found it so hard to take in and retain information, I saw myself as an imposter. I was not worthy. My success at work was not measurable via some kind of stellar career, rather that I made it to the end without being found out. That was my triumph.
As a meeter and greeter, so to speak, there is not that much information to take in. I find out what the person wants, make them feel welcome as a friend for the time they are with us and then move on to someone else. It’s the one thing I would say I am good at, at least by my own standards of what one might describe as being good. I like people and I think they like me.
We were incredibly busy today, absolutely flat out until the doors closed. Part of it may be Easter, but much of it is down to the cost-of-living crisis that still hangs over the country. I say much, rather than most, because we get our fair share of people who are broken, by drugs, alcohol, family, unemployment, disability; sometimes a combination of some or all of the above. Overwhelmingly, our callers are good people who have fallen on hard times. I don’t think I realised until I joined the food bank just how many people are dependent what we do. I do now.
I honestly think the new government is turning things round, albeit slowly, perhaps too slowly. Scrapping the two child benefits limit will remove half a million people out of poverty, the increases to the minimum wage will have a similar affect. The Retirement Pension triple lock is an example of how increasing state benefits – and let’s be clear: the state pension is the ultimate social security benefit – can lift people out of poverty. And we see it at our food bank because we almost never get pensioners requiring our help. Anecdotally, people from other food banks tell me the same. There is pensioner poverty but the rise in state pensions, together with the introduction of the Pension Credit scheme has made a huge difference.
If Labour loses in 2029, if Reform UK Ltd or the Conservatives win power, things will change. Nigel Farage and Kemi Bad Enoch have both said they will cut taxes dramatically by cutting the welfare bill dramatically. If you are on any kind of state benefit, including the most expensive one to provide: the state pension, then you might wish to consider just how you cast your vote. I am not sure that a Reform UK Ltd/Conservative government would enable food banks to cope with the levels of demand they’d create.
Having finished ‘work’ a few hours ago, I am still buzzing, as young folk say. I know that my mood will soon sink back to its usual state, but for now the fact that I helped someone’s life worth living has made mine worth living, too. I am not sure I could manage with the food bank. As long as there are people needing us, I won’t need to.
