Universal Credit claimant gives back to lifeline Northampton food bank

When Gemma Carter of Rectory Farm was 20 weeks pregnant last year she experienced a difficult pregnancy and had to go on maternity leave early.

After leaving a complicated relationship she had never needed to rely on a foodbank more and found herself claiming Universal Credit.

Pushing her pride aside, she plucked up the courage to join Emmanuel Church who signposted her to Weston Favell Food Bank Centre.

There she would pick up parcels each week for her and her five children. Some nights the only thing she would eat for dinner would be a bag of crisps.

"I was in a really bad place," she said. "I hit rock bottom emotionally and I was really struggling day to day and someone mentioned the foodbank but I was too proud and couldn't go.

"Then, I remember the first time I came to the foodbank and I was a quivering mess."

For some months, Gemma - whose rent is £396 - says she has been receiving as little as £411 a month in Universal Credit payments.

"I have three children at home," she added.

Gemma's financial situation got so bad she had to take her car off the road, stop watching TV because she couldn't afford the license fee and could only afford a little present for her children at Christmas.

Gemma is just one story.

To accommodate demand in the Eastern District Weston Favell Foodbank boss Anne Woodly is now opening the foodbank on a Monday, from 1.30pm until 3.30pm.

Last week, on Monday and Wednesday, the food bank handed out 54 emergency food parcels, the highest so far this year, which can feed up to three people over three days.

Anne said: "We have opened on a Monday to give people opportunity and to ease pressure on volunteers, there was 16 people waiting outside the door last week.

"The foodbank is here for our community to make sure nobody goes hungry and to offer somewhere that people can come to talk if they need to.

"We work with a range of local partners and signpost them to find long term outcomes to enhance the quality of their lives for a better future for themselves and their families."

Other volunteers at the church include community outreach worker Paul Foster who runs Food in the School Holidays (FISH) - a free lunch and entertainment club for children experiencing holiday hunger in Blackthorn - and helped to feed 180 people this week.

And 87-year-old befriender Jean Marks who started working at Emmanuel Church Cafe since 2002. She first noticed how many lonely people would talk to her in the cafe, and since 2007 she has been a 'befriender' every Wednesday.

"I think last week was one of the busiest weeks this year because people are still getting over January, the impact of Christmas and are stocking up for school holidays," Anne added.

"Demand has grown since last year - we often see newborn babies and their mums come through our doors."

The latest Trussell Trust figures show that Northamptonshire foodbanks between April and September last year fed 7,018 people.

"I started to go to church last year and I did not believe in God but it's the best thing I have done," Gemma added.

"I'm now volunteering at the food bank on a Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I'm stocktaking and doing admin.

"I've been doing that for a month now because I could not give back financially and they have done so much for me."