A foodbank boss has warned this winter will be worse than the 1980s as the perfect storm of rocketing energy prices and benefit cuts forces more and more people to seek help.
The Welcome Centre in Huddersfield is facing the bleak prospect of helping more families than ever this winter as conditions worsen in the country with many struggling after the pandemic.
The centre is helping 20 per cent more children than it did a year prior, and over the last two weeks alone has had 147 referrals to help people who cannot make ends meet on their own, Yorkshire Live reports .
A number of the people they help have been hit hard by rising energy prices, with one person having seen their monthly energy bills hike from £80 to £200, a rise they cannot afford.
Chief Executive Kate Auker said: “Someone asked me recently if what’s happening now is going to be as bad as the 1980s when things were dire.
“It’s not going to be like the 1980s … it’s going to be far worse.
“The saying ‘heat or eat’ is becoming well-worn these days but we are facing the terrible prospect where there will be many people this winter who won’t be able to afford to do either without support from charities like The Welcome Centre.
“The sad thing is that food banks should not exist at all but the fact they do and the demand on them will be higher than ever is deeply troubling.
“Behind every referral is a story of someone really struggling to afford the absolute basic essentials in life.
“There is an awful lot of human misery behind these statistics. These huge energy price increases just don’t add up and it’s a deeply worrying time.”
A £20 uplift on Universal Credit was ended this month with the government maintaining it was only ever a temporary measure.
The Welcome Centre are already seeing the impact of this cut.
Kate said: “People are already turning to us for help which shows that this extra £20 made all the difference to them.
“It was probably paying their food bill every week. That £20 temporary payment should have set the framework for a permanent change.
“These people had disappeared from the food bank and were managing to cope but they are already coming back and asking for support.”
The Welcome Centre experienced their most in-demand month ever in April 2020, right after the country plunged into lockdown.
But rates for this October are set to break that record.
She added: “Referrals are already on the rise. With so many families that need our help we are making up bigger packs to support babies, children and young people living in food poverty.”
On top of that, the pandemic has changed the demographic of people who are seeking help, having forced many who never have used a foodbank before into needing support.
Kirklees Council had offered invaluable support to the charity during the pandemic, allowing it continue its work after its doors were forced shut.
