"People will go hungry" - that is the stark warning from a south Manchester food bank owner in desperate need of a new home. Perry's Pantry, in East Didsbury, provides vital food packages to more than 70 homes a week across Didsbury and the surrounding area - but, amid the ongoing cost of living crisis that is causing families to feel the pinch more than ever, demand has meant they have outgrown their current premises.
Now, Jen Savaris, who first kick-started her charitable efforts in lockdown and later moved into a former dress store on School Lane says she is worried that she will not find a new permanent home for the food bank, which opens three days a week and prepares food parcels that are then delivered to homes in need across south Manchester.
It comes following a huge spike in referrals, particularly since Christmas and the announcement that household gas and electricity bills could face an inflation in bills. Jen admitted that herself and volunteers are now more stretched than ever delivering to dozens of homes and that they need a larger space to store copious amounts of donated foods.
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Jen, who is also gearing up for her FOURTH return trip to Ukraine with vital aid, said: "Our space is now just becoming to small to meet demand and we are really in desperate need of finding somewhere new but it is proving difficult. I have called so many churches, community centres and am looking constantly but there is nowhere suitable or its too expensive.
"We don't have loads of money - we spend it all on the food shops and massively rely on donations. We were very lucky to be given the space we have, and at first it was enough, but the demand is growing so much we just need more space as it is becoming dangerous and we are even tripping up over each other.
"Currently we have about 500-sq feet of space - we need at least 800 or more. Since Christmas and the announcement of all the prices rising, we have seen a big increase in referrals definitely and we predict it is only going to get worse, so we don't have long to find somewhere.
"We deliver to between 50 and 70 households a week. We also need to try and consider a premises somewhere nearby as it needs to be accessible for all our volunteers, so the location is also a huge worry.
"Within three months of first moving into where we are now, we were stepping over one another and just found there weren't enough shelves, no space for more fridges."
It was in lockdown last year that Jen moved her food bank to the former Hazel Dress store on School Lane. Open for more than 50 years, famous owners Hazel Graham and husband Gordon, aged 95, kindly gave the empty space to the charity last March - but it is now just not big enough.
"Even with the back room and the garage we have at the minute there just is not enough space anymore, especially for all the fresh food and produce. Unfortunately, we don't have a huge budget for the space we require and are also looking for sponsors .
"We need somewhere permanent as we offer a long term solution for many families really struggling. Instead packages for just a few days, we offer week-long packages that families can access for just £3.50 a week. If we don't find somewhere new and can no longer cope where we are, I don't know what we will do. People will go hungry."
Perry’s Pantry is an independent charity and receives no other funding, so is supported entirely by donations and the kindness of the people of south Manchester. Previously, Tricia Reilly-Hurst, a trustee of Perry’s Pantry Foodbank, touched on how they are also facing struggles with paying for the shopping from donations.
She said: “It’s only going to get worse from April, it costs us between £500 and £700 a week now to shop because everything has increased in price and you know, it’s not just 10 pence. There’s been a massive increase.
“All our food is donated by the generosity of Didsbury, we help people in Burnage, we help a blind guy in Gorton, we help somebody in Reddish so we’re not just stuck to Didsbury, it depends where the referrals are coming from. If not for our unsung heroes, our lovely volunteers, we wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be running and I can’t even express that enough.”
