I was forced to turn to foodbanks - now I help feed others with dignity and respect
plastic bags of canned food in the rain, because if you had money for the bus then you wouldn’t be using the foodbank.
“It was the queuing outside and the walking home in the rain that I found to be the most undignified aspects of that entire process.”
When he was able to improve his own situation, Lewey turned his attention to helping others benefit in a more dignified way and so, in 2019, Humans MCR was founded.
Operating firstly from his one-bedroom flat in Longsight, Lewey turned his living space into a foodbank, collecting tins on his bookshelves and stepping over piles of donated food.
As the charity grew, they received some funding and were able to open their own space but, in just a matter of months, they were faced with the unprecedented challenge of a national lockdown.
“After starting in November 2019, Covid was a little bit of a slap in the face,” Lewey said.
“But we were used to living on the edge. It’s kind of what we do as an organisation and so Covid taught us that we can sit on the edge without having to panic, knowing that we will always get by somehow.”
The charity want to transform the experience of using foodbanks. They opt to deliver food parcels to their people’s doorsteps, in an experience that they hope makes it easier for those in need to reach out.
They also provide a ‘community grocers’ service, where those in need can source fresh, good quality food at slashed prices.
They work hard to make sure every person using their services is treated with dignity and respect.
Their delivery vans are unmarked, to ensure their people’s privacy is maintained and they cater for a variety of dietary and cultural needs.
On referral, people are asked about their access to cooking facilities, so packages can suit the equipment they have.
Lewey’s approach stems from his own experiences. He described the ‘shame’ he felt after he was made redundant and was eventually forced to turn to foodbanks.
“I’m a proud Yorkshireman. To be in that situation in the first place, I found it really difficult,” he said.
“It’s a rubbish saying but it’s that kind of British stiff upper lip. I cooked for as long as I possibly thought I could before it got so desperate that I thought I’m going to have to bite the bullet here.”
Lewey recounted how he ‘didn’t think charity was for him’ - a feeling that he knows occupies the minds of many who are in need.
“I didn’t think foodbanks were for me,” he said. “I thought they were for people that were experiencing other things.
“I remember there was a foodbank that I went to and there was a Sikh food van outside which was giving out curry and rice. And I remember just sobbing, getting one of these portions.
“Looking back on it, what I think what I was crying about was the shame of the situation, the shame I felt about relying on people I didn’t know.”
While Lewey was eventually able to lift himself out of hunger and stop using foodbanks, he knows that for many living in food poverty, the issue spans generations.
When setting up Humans MCR, his vision was to provide a ‘suite’ of services that go beyond providing food in the immediate moment and work to ‘break cycles of intergenerational poverty’.
The charity recognises the role education plays in breaking this cycle and partners with Read Manchester and Manchester Libraries to help provide children with books. “If we can increase the level of education in those children, the less chance there is of them repeating that cycle as they start to leave education,” Lewey explained.
“We know that kids having full bellies is vital because they need that to be able to pay attention at school to give them the energy that they need to be able to learn.”
Since April 2020, the team has delivered more than 131,500 meals in Greater Manchester and saved more than 16,000kg of food from going to waste.
This Christmas, they’re expecting to deliver 300 Xmas hampers, as well as gifts for children and treats for adults.
Life in suburb hardest hit by cost of food crisis: Pages 14&15