Hub to help those near ‘breadline’
THOUSANDS of people in Wales are walking on the breadline – but one family from Bridgend are on a mission to stop more people slipping into poverty.
The MC Hub, part of the Mulligan Community social enterprise, opened on Caroline Street in Bridgend in July and its community shop is described as being “one step up from a food bank”.
It gives people on benefits or a low income a lifeline – a bag of food that costs as little as £5, with the hope it can catch people before they fall deeper into poverty.
Inside the bag you can find meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen food, tins and microwave meals. If the products were bought from a supermarket – which is where they come from – the bag could set you back £40.
The first bag of food costs £10 and any additional bags are £5, meaning an £80 food shop can be bought for £15. A bag of frozen food can also be bought for £5, with a bag of fruit and veg costing £2. Bread is free, and anybody is welcome to take a loaf.
“We don’t turn anybody away. Everybody is welcome, no matter what your situation or postcode is. Most of our members are from Bridgend but we’ve had people coming from further afield, like Swansea or Rhondda,” said Amanda Kirk, one of MC’s directors.
“Mulligan is a golfing term,” continued Amanda, whose two teenage children also help out at the centre. “It means to be given a second chance, and that’s what we do. Not that these people have failed in any way, but we just want to be there to help them get back on their feet.”
Within its first month more than 100 people had signed up to the Community Shop scheme and now that number has tripled. The shop has more than 300 members, with dozens of those queueing for hours before the shop opens with its new stock on a Friday morning.
Amanda, 43, and Ed Kirk, 46, helped set up Mulligan Community four years ago, with its main base, the MC Centre, in the Bridgend Industrial Estate. After its huge success, and after realising not everybody can get to the centre, the MC Hub was opened in the heart of Bridgend’s town centre.
After seeing the number of homeless people rising, they decided to give up their roles and invest their time and money into helping stamp out poverty and social exclusion.
The MC Hub works with charity FareShare, which aims to tackle hunger and food waste by collecting unwanted food from supermarkets. MC then buys from FareShare – which currently delivers food once a week – and sells it on to its members. Any profit made is reinvested into the hub.
MC is funded entirely by donations and grants and only four people in the enterprise are paid a salary.
One member of the Community Shop, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “I’ve been coming for about five weeks, I think it’s great. I come in every day, sometimes it’s just for a chat or sometimes it’s to get food.
“I get most of my food from here because I couldn’t afford it elsewhere. I come on Fridays when they get their delivery and there’s always people queuing from about 8.30am, even in the rain or hailstones.
“But there’s also the social side to coming here, I can pop in just for a quick chat for ten minutes. You don’t really get that anywhere else.
“If it wasn’t for here I don’t know what I would do.”
But Amanda said there isn’t a typical customer at the community shop and people from all walks of life have walked through its doors.
■ If you want to find more information on Mulligan Community, what they offer or the service providers it works with, visit mulligancommunity.org.