A foodbank charity is grappling with soaring grocery bills and reduced donations while the number of desperate people needing emergency food parcels continues to rise.
West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare say the level of hopelessness among those struggling is extremely worrying as the cost of living crisis grips the nation.
Inflation rose to a 30-year high of 5.4 percent last month, while rising energy bills expected in April are set to squeeze already reducing household budgets.
Clair Coyle, of the charity, says the cost of living has risen to an extent where benefits for those in and out of work aren’t enough to cover basic essentials.
She also says the real rise in the cost of food and other groceries is much higher than official inflation figures show.
Clair said: “The numbers of people needing our help has been increasing since the start of December and the phones have been ringing non stop.
“More people are reaching out to us than ever before and the level of hopelessness is really worrying.
“People are telling us they are getting paid but once they have paid their bills and bought some food, they’ve got nothing left.
“They are topping up their meters and within a couple of days, it’s run down again.
“We are seeing firsthand how expensive food has become. We buy a lot of our own food and are having to do more of that as donations have dropped.
“We tend to do the same order and our shop increased by about 10 percent, which is above inflation.
“We used to get a bag of pasta for 45p and it’s increased to 80p which is a massive rise.
“It comes down to the simple fact that people aren’t being given enough money, whether that’s wages or benefits.
“They are not increasing in line with the rate of increase we’re seeing in the cost of living.
“We’ve also seen an increase in the number of working households and those who are retired and are needing our help.
“I really don’t see there there being any changes to the situation this year and it’s a real concern.”
Analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found the poorest adults could be forced to spend more than half of their income after housing on rising energy bills.
The Lennox Herald reported last month that almost a third of households in West Dunbartonshire are already living in fuel poverty.
Statistics compiled by Energy Action Scotland show, on average, 29 percent of local families are struggling with their bills – above the Scottish average of 24 percent.
Rate payers across the country are facing even higher fuel costs, with the energy price cap expected to rise in April.
It’s feared energy bills could go up by as much as 50 per cent.
Clair told how she doesn’t expect the situation to improve anytime soon and told how the team never could have imagined there still being a need for the service when it opened almost 10 years ago.
The charity handed out 17,758 emergency food parcels to desperate residents last year alone.
She continued: “Our numbers are going up and up.
“Through our Christmas toybank appeal, we gave gifts to 1334 kids last year and the previous year it was 965 so that’s a huge increase.
“There are 60-odd deliveries going out today and normally there would be around 50.
“It’s a real sad indication of what is going on.
“We set the service up in 2012 in response to benefit sanctions as a short-term intervention and thought we would be open for around a year.
“Things have steadily got worse and we have almost become part of the benefits system.
“People get their benefits and then they come to us. It was never meant to be like this.”
Food For Thought, based in Dumbarton’s Artizan Centre, has also seen a rise in the numbers of people calling on help.
Lorraine McLeish told the Lennox Herald: “Everybody is panicking and we’ve seen an increase in the number of people needing our service since before Christmas.
“A lot of organisations in West Dunbartonshire are contacting us and asking if they can work with us.
“More people are coming in looking for advice and asking to use our phone.
“Ninety percent of it is down to increased costs of living.
“The increase in food is having a big impact. Before Christmas, we were paying 72p for a litre of milk and it’s now gone up to 90p.
“That’s just milk and there are increases across all the staple items.”
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said the withdrawal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift is also hitting people in the pockets hard.
She said: “It is concerning that demand is increasing at such a high rate as we are facing a cost of living crisis.
“Sadly this is being replicated up and down the country as energy bills are rising, the cost of food is rising and household bills are all going up. And none of this is helped by the UK government’s withdrawal of the £20 benefit uplift in place during the pandemic.
“It is heartbreaking that anyone needs to access a foodbank. We cannot allow this situation to continue.
“My colleague Rhoda Grant is championing the Right to Food Bill which I fully support.
“If we have the political will, we can end food poverty by enshrining the right to food as a human right in Scots Law and taking practical steps to make that a reality.
“And this week the Labour Party launched a comprehensive plan of fully-funded measures to reduce the impact of rises to energy
bills. This will save most households around £200 or more funded by a one-off windfall tax on North Sea Oil and Gas producers who have profited from price rises.”
West Dunbartonshire MP Martin Docherty-Hughes said in-work poverty across the UK is the worst it’s been this century.
He said: “Every week I hear from constituents struggling to make ends meet due to the worsening cost of living crisis.
“Wages are failing to keep pace with inflation and the soaring costs of food, fuel, and energy, which is putting a huge strain on household budgets.
“But Boris Johnson’s government seems determined to make things worse rather than better for hard-hit families in West Dunbartonshire.
“Instead of restoring the £20 weekly uplift to Universal Credit, the Tories are imposing harsher sanctions on welfare claimants. Rather than introducing a real living wage, the Tories are pressing ahead with tax hikes on working people.
“With energy bills set to rise by up to 50 percent in April, it’s deeply worrying the impact this will have on already struggling families.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “We know this has been a challenging time for many families, which is why we’re providing support worth around £12bn this financial year and next to help households with the cost of living, including putting an average of £1,000 more per year into the pockets of working families on Universal Credit, increasing the minimum wage by 6.6 percent and targeted help with fuel bills.
“Our £500m Household Support Fund is helping the most vulnerable with essential costs this winter, and councils have been given an extra £65m to support low income households with rent arrears. We will continue to look closely at the pressures facing people and what further measures might be needed on abating high energy costs.
“Meanwhile, the Scottish Parliament has significant welfare powers and can top up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility.”
Anybody needing support or wishing to donate to West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare can call freephone 0800 345 7050.
West Dunbartonshire Food For Thought can be contacted on 01389 743908.
