Food bank sees the desperation of many

SOUP KITCHEN VOLUNTEER SAYS CHILDREN NOW VISIT

STRUGGLING families with children who would otherwise go hungry have had to use a soup kitchen in Burton, which shows how desperate many have become, say volunteers.

Margaret Broadhurst has been volunteering at the soup kitchen, in Rangemore Street, for four years and said she has now started seeing children using the facility with their parents - something she had never seen before, which is concerning

The retired nurse said: “Children have started coming in with their mothers.

“In all the time I have worked here I have never seen children coming in. I don’t know whether they are properly in need but you have to assume they are. You cannot judge. We never ask their circumstances.

“They are off school now so are not getting their school meals.”

The 77-year-old, from Burton, was speaking about soup kitchen’s plans for Christmas.

It never opens on Christmas Day but held a Christmas dinner on Wednesday, December 22, with turkey and all the trimmings donated by Tesco and a shopper at Iceland. Turkeys have also been donated by a man from Hatton, Kerry Foods and the Scropton turkey farm, she said.

It was due to re-open on Monday, December 27, but has decided not to due to the covid situation, which could see the Prime Minister introduce more measures after Christmas as cases of the new omicron have been rising.

She said: “We had 30 people booked in for Christmas dinner on Wednesday. We are due to reopen on Monday, December 27, but we have decided not to because everything is up in the air with Covid.

“We have also had one or two volunteers who have been in contact with someone with covid so they aren’t coming in.”

Mrs Broadhurst does say there has been a general drop in the number of people attending the soup kitchen.

She said: “Many of our clients were homeless but that has all changed now with the pandemic as the council and Trent and Dove [housing association] worked extremely well with the YMCA to find them homes.

“We did have many Eastern European people coming in but we believe they have now gone back home.

“We used to have about 30 people coming in and now we have about 20.”

In all the time I have worked here I have never seen children coming in.

Margaret Broadhurst