Food bank launches appeal as costs climb and donations fall

The people who walk through the doors of St Paul's Charity are often carrying more than the burden of empty cupboards, says chief executive Jez Chalmers.

Many arrive feeling embarrassed and ashamed that they are struggling to cope.

"The truth is, any one of us could find ourselves facing a moment of hardship, so we do what we can," he said.

For four decades, the Crewe charity has been providing practical support and a helping hand to local households going through difficult times.

Now it is appealing for public support after rising demand and increasing costs put pressure on one of its busiest services.

St Paul's said it was spending about £1,000 a week on food for its food bank while donations have become harder to secure.

"The same cost-of-living crisis that's causing demand to soar is also causing support of our food bank to drop," said Chalmers.

The charity has launched its Not on my Watch appeal, asking people to donate £2 a month to help keep the service running.

"We do everything possible to shower people with dignity, kindness and respect, so that any shame or embarrassment immediately evaporates," Chalmers said.

Operating from three sites across Crewe town centre, the charity runs nine services ranging from food support and furniture provision to shoe distribution and help for people returning home from hospital.

Peter Dean, who leads the food bank, said demand was coming from people in a wide range of circumstances.

"It is really eye-opening how many people are in work and in poverty," he said.

The charity distributes about 10 food parcels a day and is currently appealing for donations of strong carrier bags so people can transport supplies home safely.

"People who come here are walking a long way and they don't have access to transport, so we really need those strong bags," Dean said.

Kate Junory-Lusar, head of community services, said St Paul's increasingly supported people experiencing what she described as "poverty of energy and poverty of community connection".

"It is heartbreaking because we are listening to real stories," she said.

"It's not stories from magazines or social media, they are our neighbours."

Staff say the challenges facing local families go beyond food as, for instance, they also provide new and nearly new shoes to families in need.

One story that has stayed with Chalmers involved a young boy who had been wearing a worn-out pair of school shoes because he had no other footwear.

After being given a new pair of trainers, the child could not stop smiling.

"He was saying, 'mum, they're so squidgy'," Chalmers recalled.

"He'd sort of forgotten what that felt like under his feet."

Alongside its work supporting struggling households, the charity also runs Extra Miles, a hospital discharge support service funded by Cheshire East Council.

Based at Wellington House in Crewe town centre, the project helps about 100 people a month return safely home after leaving hospital.

Manager Candy Crowther said many clients had no family or friends nearby to help them settle back in.

"Every night, you go to bed and you think, I've really helped someone today," she said.

"And that brings a smile to your face and you sleep easy."

For Chalmers, those small moments of support remain at the heart of the charity's work.

"People speak their mind," he said of Crewe residents.

"But people stand together. When times get tough, they pull each other up."

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