One category of person to attend our food bank is the mentally ill one. It’s been an unforgivable oversight on my part to even refer to it in my food bank blogs to date and now I am going to try to put that right.
Many of our callers are facing mental health issues, ranging from anxiety and depression to more serious conditions. I will normally see at least one person who is struggling, sometimes it seems that everyone is and who can blame them? The multiple stresses of having no food, of trying to get referred to a food bank and actually coming to a food bank. Don’t think for a moment that this is an easy trip for anyone. For some, it’s horrible.
Today, I was assigned to see someone who has severe mental health issues, way beyond simple anxiety and depression. They didn’t even want to come inside the building so I was asked to interview them outside just off the main road. Whatever it takes, I try to do it. The person was angry and very sweary and there was an underlying volatility, anger and frustration. The process is that the volunteer goes through a tick box list and asks the user what they want. This person didn’t want to do it that way. “Give me the fucking list and I’ll do it quicker.” It was time to be firm. “That’s not the way it works here. There are lots of either/or questions and I shall ask you the questions.” We argued about that for a moment, but soon they realised I wasn’t backing down. More anger, more swearing, a bit of shouting thrown in. Did I feel threatened? Not really. Did I feel they would lash out? No. It took a fair while to complete our form, but we finally got there. “Thanks for putting up with that,” they said.
We were short of volunteers today so it was pretty well flat out from the start. I would describe it as ‘hard work” during times like these because it is, particularly for our volunteers who work selecting goods and packing them in our storeroom. For those of us meeting and greeting, the work is mentally and sometimes emotionally draining, but we all appreciate that no matter how tough it is for us, it’s infinitely tougher for our callers. I go home to a proper tea in a warm house. Of all the people I saw today, I doubt that this would describe a normal day for any of them.
Our food bank, which is a church, is also a ‘warm place’, where people can come, have a cup of tea and keep warm instead of freezing at home. Several of today’s callers told me they had visited warm places, including this one, for much of the winter. I can only imagine what the heating bill is for the church we use. The heating it always on and I find it so warm a T shirt on top is all I need.
Finally, the phenomenally thick Tory MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, who is also the vice chair of the Conservative Party, has said that people can afford to eat on 30p a day. Now, he appears to be suggesting that he is stalking his constituents: “I had one particular family I was helping… they were going to a foodbank two or three times a week to get their groceries and then I see them in McDonalds two or three times a week.” It’s either stalking or he spends an inordinate amount of time in McDonalds himself. Or, as I suspect, he made it all up in the first place. If this family uses a food bank three times a week, then my guess is they are being referred to three different food banks because few are open every single day. Of course, poor people use McDonalds because you rarely see branches opening in posh areas, like Clifton in Bristol, but why should they not have the occasional treat, if that’s what you call it.
There were still people waiting as I left slightly earlier than usual. My sense is that we are getting busier. With food inflation running at 17%, we shouldn’t be surprised by that.
