HELPING PEOPLE HIT HARDEST BY COVID CRISIS

The Western Morning News and its sister websites in Devon and Cornwall are raising funds for those hardest hit by the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. Here Sam Beamish talks to a brave mother who left an abusive relationship – and urges others to ask for help

IDIDN’T think that I was someone who would need to use a foodbank”. That’s the message of a woman who has been supported by the Wadebridge Foodbank during the pandemic.

On Monday, the WMN published an article about the people who organise the foodbank and make referrals as part of our Lockdown SOS Appeal.

But today we hear directly from a woman who has been supported by the community lifeline.

The woman cannot be identified for safety reasons, so she will be known by the alias Mia.

Mia said: “I think everyone has a different reason for falling on hard times. I left an abusive relationship, I was suddenly on my own with two children. I had a newborn daughter. It was a big change for me because I always worked.”

Mia said without the foodbank she would not have survived.

She explained: “I was putting the food shop on credit cards. But I started using the foodbank and they put me in touch with a debt charity too.

“I never classed myself as someone who would need to rely on a foodbank, but they were so generous and lovely.”

Mia said it was her pride which led to her using credit cards rather than seeking help.

She said: “I think there is a stigma of using a foodbank, but I think the pandemic has proven that anyone can find themselves in a situation where they need to use a foodbank.

“It’s awful and you don’t want to sound like you’re judging someone, but I was always working, I always thought a foodbank was for people down on their luck.

“I didn’t think I would qualify and I didn’t want to ask. It was all new to me at the time, going on to benefits.”

Mia now says a lot of her friends rely on the foodbank too and they have been impacted by the pandemic and have lost jobs. She said: “I would tell anyone to reach out, don’t go hungry, don’t be too proud. They’re there to help and they can help in other ways too.

“My daughter had a growth spurt and I couldn’t afford new baby grows.”

She said the humanity of organiser Jacqui and volunteer Cherry helped reassure her at what was a very difficult time.

Mia said: “They’re amazing, very strong ladies. I have been there and Jacqui has taken abuse from someone who didn’t have a voucher but she takes it all on her chin, she’s really hardy and strong, both her and Cherry.

“They’re always out the front, they’re the face of the foodbank.

“They put everyone at ease and they know you by name, you don’t feel like you’re on a conveyor belt, it’s nice to see them.”

Jacqui White manages foodbanks in Bodmin, Camelford and Wadebridge supporting local people in crisis in these towns and the surrounding rural areas.

The foodbank supports people by providing three days’ worth of nutritionally balanced food, in exchange for a foodbank voucher, which are issued by care professionals.

To date, Cornwall Community Foundation (CFF) has awarded £17,000 across four grants to the foodbank.

Mia praised the generosity of the foodbank which offers more than just a food parcel.

She said: “They give us really good food and multi-vitamins, Calpol, nappies, and even little treats for the kids, so if it’s Easter they will give them Easter eggs, and they do electricals too, but I haven’t taken them up on any yet.”

Mia said things are now beginning to improve.

She said: “Things are actually improving for me, nobody needs to suffer. I struggled for ages, I don’t know why I didn’t just ask for some help. The girls (Jacquie and Cherry) kept encouraging me to come along. They know how often you should be going, so maybe a few times a month, and sometimes I wouldn’t go, and they would say ‘you’re not on credit cards again’.

“I had to learn to let people help me. I feel bad for saying what I said earlier – that I didn’t think I was someone who would need a foodbank...

“I had never struggled. But like I said, I found myself in a strange situation, where I was struggling.”

‘I was always working. I thought a foodbank was for someone down on their luck’ MIA