Desperate families using food banks have been left in tears as they struggle with rising costs of living.
A food bank manager in Llanidloes has revealed that the number of people turning to them for help has doubled since the summer and it is expected to rise during the cold winter months.
Clare Bound said she has noticed that more older people living on their own needing to rely on food banks, and people are avoiding certain foods that need cooking amid soaring energy costs.
“We are more concerned about people keeping warm. I had someone crying to me last week and she has two children, and she doesn’t know how she is going buy Christmas presents," Clare said.
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“There are lots of concerns over how they are paying energy, and type of foods because they don’t want to cook anything because they don’t want to use energy.
“We have a proportion of users who can’t cook. They haven’t got the ability to chuck it on a plate.”
Clare added: “Usage is going up; donations are going down. There are no funds to buy extras. We are fortunate to have two grants which are very welcome from Powys County Council and they approached us. And it was very helpful.
"At the moment we have funds, but we are finding we are shopping far more frequently to get bare essentials. We find a lot of people needing toiletries, washing powder that take a big of the shop.”
Clare was sharing her idea to set up a Llanidloes Cost of Living Taskforce with Llanidloes Town Council. “It’s only when we identify the people and the need we can make things better,” Clare said. “We need to understand the need and who they are.”
She said following the easing of coronavirus restrictions, eight households in the Llanidloes area were using the food bank. Since September there have been an extra eight households come to rely on the food bank. “I think that number is going to rise, and quite a lot,” Clare added.
Councillor Gareth Morgan described the cost of living crisis as a “tragedy and a black mark on this country.”
Councillor Margot Jones told Clare: “I am in awe of all you’ve done. You’ve changed the way the town has dealt with people. It is hugely helpful and vital. It’s shameful in this day and age as we approach winter struggling with heating.”
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