Food banks across West Midlands feeling the pinch, but also feeling more hopeful ahead of festive season

The ongoing cost of living crisis has continued to put a strain on households across the West Midlands, with many people struggling to make ends meet.

With prices continuing to rise and a new increase of around £21 extra a year for gas and electricity set to take place in the new year, the number of people using food banks to get the basic essentials has continued to remain high.

Across the region, dozens of food banks have been operating with high levels of demand, with that demand sometimes outstripping supply due to a shortage of donations.

However, for three food banks operating in Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Stafford, while the period has been challenging and they have been seeing more and more people, the supply and demand has become easier to manage.

At The Well in Wolverhampton, manager Gary Price said the daily demand for the food bank was clear to see, with the phone continually ringing.

He said: "We have a cut off point each day, with about 25 parcels a day being the limit that we can do from the referrals we get, and the demand is always there and we could probably double it.

"We're feeding around 11,000 people a year in the WV postcode area, so Wolverhampton, Bilston and Wednesfield, and while it dropped off a bit in the summer after the Job Centre decided not to refer to us anymore, it has picked up again because of other people being referred to our service.

"We have a maximum that we can fulfil each day and the phones open at 9.30am each day and, usually, by 10.30am, we've taken all the referrals for that day and the phone doesn't stop ringing."

Mr Price said that while the demand was there, the donations also were there and while the charity was forced to downsize its facilities due to costs, he said there was still the ability to run.

He said: "We have the harvest festival recently and that has meant we are able to run fully for the next six months until Easter, and we had an extra tonne of food this year in donations.

"The only challenge we currently face is with the rent for the building as we're having to downsize from three warehouses to two because the rent has gone up so much, but while our finances are always a bit tricky, the food side is doing well, with lots of donations coming in.

"We have good support from the community and, looking ahead to Christmas, we'd like to see more Christmas stuff, such as puddings, mince pies, tinned puddings and anything Christmassy that people can throw in."

In Brierley Hill, the Black Country Food Bank has been working hard since even before the Covid-19 pandemic to help people in communities across the Black Country.

Chief executive officer Jen Coleman said that things were steady at present after some recent financial help and regular donations, but also said that the food bank looked set to match the large numbers of 2023 for meals and people.

She said: "Things are steady and we had a really positive harvest, with more than 90 schools connecting with us and donating, so we don't feel like demand is outstripping supply at the moment.

"The figures are similar to last year, which were record breaking and a huge challenge as we provided more than half a million meals and helped more than 40,000 people and if we're heading for that figure again, then that is very concerning.

"It was a huge shock and to keep at that level is quite something, with one thing we've noticed being the number of children that we've helped, around 9.2 per cent more, and we can echo the stories in the press about child poverty as we've seen 13,000 children since January."

Ms Coleman said the food bank had struggled in the past, but was on a good footing at present due to financial donations and help from a lot of groups.

She said: "We've got great relationships with a lot of community groups because we've been here for such a long time and we've had a change in support, with financial donations coming in, so we've been able to bulk buy things like food and toiletries and while we've spent more than £60,000 since the beginning of April, we've had the funding to do that.

"That's been really critical for us moving forward and as long as there are funding streams available and we can apply for them, then we will always hope to get some funding.

"We always need more donations and with Christmas coming, we would love Christmas-related items, but our parcels are for essential meals and so, as a result, we want to make sure we've got the items like milk and fruit juice, tea bags, canned food and all kinds of things that are essential to keep people going."

In Stafford, House of Bread has been providing a place for people to get the essentials, as well as keep warm and have a hot drink and meal at its Cafe 43 base.

Director Will Morris said the charity had found itself helping around 125 people on average, having helped around 100 on average in 2023, but said it was blessed with the resources to help those in need, although he did note a growing issue with homelessness.

He said: "In sense of demand, we are seeing more and more demand and it's exceeded last year, but significantly, we can always provide what needed and as a Christian charity, all are welcome, no matter what the demand is and we continue to be blessed by resources, support and funds.

"It is depressing because of the fact that we are busier than ever and we are dealing with a lot more men under the age of 25 and, sometimes, 20 and also the trends of young people and homelessness."

Mr Morris said that while there were issues in the community and he was exasperated at times about the homelessness situation, he was happy that House of Bread was still able to provide help and have people wanting to help.

He said: "We are asking for more donations in the sense that there's always going to be demand out there, but more people are coming in to help out now and my phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to help.

"Everyone is phoning in to offer new and creative ways to help and the community are being more proactive than ever, which in 14 years of doing this, I think is just amazing.

"We are always looking for the unromantic donations, such as men's and women's pants, socks, toiletries and all that type of stuff, but any and all donations are fantastic and we have pasta and tins of beans to last us until 2026."