When I was interviewed for my role at Instant Neighbour I was asked: “What is your vision of the foodbank in five years’ time?”.
With bold interviewee confidence, or probably more naive smugness, I answered “closed” and with that I felt I had done all I could to sell myself for the position.
Only 18 months earlier I had found myself on my knees. Homeless, broken and lost, with no idea where to turn for help or even what help was available for someone who had so royally messed their life up through poor decisions, and a sheer disregard for accountability and responsibility.
Through determination, and a lot of perseverance and soul searching I managed to negotiate the welfare system and discipline myself enough to get back on my feet to start again.
I found a re-kindled passion to help people and demonstrate how they could help themselves in times of trouble.
Foodbanks ‘busier than ever’
I found myself running a foodbank and engaging with people who were where I had been, determined to make a difference and do my bit to help end poverty.
Daily I speak to people, offering independent advice on a huge variety of issues from benefit applications and financial advice to welfare assistance and CV-building, and pretty much anything else in between that I can seek answers to or refer to more appropriate organisations.
Foodbanks are now busier than ever, with 2022 seeing numbers dramatically rise on previous years.
Now, the single most common reason for people seeking help is them struggling to budget for the ever-increasing cost of living.
Most foodbanks rely predominantly on public donations.
But as they become an acceptable, normal and encouraged or even promoted service – promoted by organisations, local and national governments – the expectations on the public to provide help for those who are struggling increases.
New year brings new concerns
2023 brings with it real concern and uncertainty for many in and around Aberdeen, with rising fuel and food prices, interest rates and living expenses.
Instant Neighbour offers a lot of other support to those on low and stretched incomes through our charity shops and online store, as well as our joinery and carpeting services.
But the cost of living crisis is everywhere and people are worried.
Rising costs don’t just affect our clients. Many of our benefactors are just regular, albeit very generous, folk who are also affected. This causes a drop in donations as people can ill afford to be as generous as they have previously been.
So, less in donations but more requests for help – it’s a worry.
The current trend seems to be that every bit of bad news about the economic situation brings a surge of new clients registering for emergency food help, while also seeking clarification about the announcement.
January is always extremely busy, with people struggling after Christmas and it being such a long month, especially with benefits having been paid early in December.
Rise in requests
The next big question mark lands in April, when the current help for fuel bills is due to stop.
Hopefully, something else will come into play or happen with household fuel costs.
But I can guarantee we will see foodbank numbers increasing again in March.
Beyond that there is the welcome rise in benefits and pensions earmarked for April.
This real-time rise in line with inflation will be the first proper increase for years.
But will it be enough to create or even just encourage enough of a drop in the number of people seeking help, and, therefore, stave off the real concern that some foodbanks may struggle to cope in the not too distant future?
So far, 2023 sees us as a city (Aberdeen) and nation shouldering the fall-out of international conflict and still trying desperately to pick up the pieces of the pandemic.
At the same time, many of us are trying to keep a fingertip grip to some sort of normality in our lives.
October 2023 sees me hit my five years service with Instant Neighbour and, to be honest, my dream of doing myself out of a job probably seems further away than ever before.
I’ve offered assistance to more than 5,000 people in my time here and handed out in excess of 30,000 food parcels, with numbers still up by at least 25% on pre-pandemic figures.
Hopefully, with continued and growing cross-agency engagement, we can continue to offer vital emergency provisions of food and fuel, as well as low-cost solutions to those who are at the sharp end of the current economic climate.
Evan Adamson is manager and community connector at the Instant Neighbour foodbank in Aberdeen.
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