Queues for surplus food as city families struggle to pay bills
DEMAND HAS QUADRUPLED AT SNEINTON PROJECT’S SHOP
A CITY social enterprise which sells surplus food at low prices has had to open an extra day to cope with demand from people struggling to make ends meet.
The deputy director of Sneinton’s Foodprint Shop, Shoana Qureshi-khan, said: “We’ve seen the volume of people coming here increase by four times the amount since we took it over.
“We get a range of people coming in from all different backgrounds and now we get queues.
“The Saturday morning queue can start at 7.30am and it’s chaos here with about 150 people coming in. We have only been open on Wednesday mornings for three weeks now.”
When the Post visited yesterday morning there were around 15 people queuing outside.
Amber Jasmine from Sneinton had been queueing all morning in the heat with one of her children. She is a regular user of Foodprint and praises the help that Shoana and Nadeem Ahmed, the store manager, have been able to give her.
“It’s the affordability that brings me here as stores have become so expensive and I have four children. They are doing exams and need food for energy. If I go to other stores, I get less so the children are hungry.
“They get free school dinners but they only get a sandwich and a drink - that’s not enough to feed them so I wait in the queue because I get more here,” she said.
“My son is high functioning autistic and ADHD so he is a fussy eater. My money mainly goes on him, so the other children suffer. It’s either I pay the gas and electric or I get food in.”
Shoana said that some shoppers are unable to cook vegetables because they cannot afford to switch the gas on.
“We are hearing about gas and electric from shoppers more now. We have had discussions around the type of surplus food we were getting in because we got lots of cabbages or swedes in,” she said.
“We had to say people haven’t got the gas to cook these items. You
need to send us items that people can put together and cook because people are struggling even with potatoes.
“Our suppliers have been great at changing the stock as a result. Some people have had to switch off the gas completely or only cook on one hob or rely on microwaveable meals because it’s cheaper - this is people’s lived reality,” she said.
The growth in demand hasn’t just meant opening the shop for an extra day but the team is also considering opening a second location in Bulwell. This will be welcome news to some of the shoppers who travel great distances to use the Sneinton base.
Mary Clarke, 69 walked into town from Bestwood as her bus pass isn’t valid before 9.30am. She normally travels on two buses to get to the shop.
“The prices are great here and it saves me a lot of money because it’s affordable. Prices for things have gone up so this is a good place to come.
“I normally shop at Aldi but the prices are better here. My gas and electric have gone up massively which is why I get two buses. I come for the bargains,” she said.
Demand has meant that the shop is struggling to keep shelves stocked. The team is desperately reaching out to businesses or people to come forward and donate so they have items to sell.
It’s not just about the sales as Foodprint also works with those who cannot afford to buy food and can help with getting people in touch with food banks.
National network of food redistributors, Fair Share supports the project and bring in surplus stock from places like Co-op but Shoana stressed that there needs to be donations as the queues are getting bigger.
“We are struggling to keep on top of it. If there are local businesses out there that have surplus stock, we would be really grateful for a donation. It’s a growing need and people are managing their budgets so they have enough to survive and pop the heating on. Our worry is that demand is increasing and we need to maintain supply which we can’t do unless more people or businesses come forward.”
Shoana said that change needs to happen soon to protect younger generations.
“Change has to come from the top,” she added. “They know the British public are struggling and there are benefit cuts, low wages amid price increases. The working class has no chance at the moment as the divide between rich and poor is getting wider. We have to hit this from the top and understand how we are affecting people. We need to do something about it for the next generation.”