Pan Together saw a ‘shocking’ 183% increase in visitors to the Pan Community Larder from the start of January to the end of February, feeding nearly 2,000 mouths in the last 6 months.
The charity, which established the Community Larder in November 2022, has provided a lifeline to many feeling the pinch in the current cost-of-living crisis and only expects demand to increase as the crisis worsens.
In figures taken from September 2019, the area was already ranked as the Island’s most disadvantaged and in the lowest 6% of England’s most deprived places. 35% of local children were growing up in poverty compared to an England average of 17%.
Since then, the cost of everyday consumables has risen by 16.5% and, at the end of 2022, more than half of adults were buying less food with the price of food at a 45-year high. In addition, the cost of energy bills has rocketed.
In the 2021-2022 financial year, 89% of Isle of Wight children living in poverty were from working families which is reflected by those who use the Community Larder according to the 1st-hand experience of Rachel Thomson, the Community Manager at Pan Together.
Rachel said:
“Demand is greatest from working families.”
Rachel also went on to relate some heart-breaking stories of those who use the larder, including 1 woman who’d had to pawn her wedding ring to feed her kids and another who admitted she had thought about stealing food in order to do so.
Membership is free and nobody needs a referral to use the larder. Members then pay £5 per weekly visit for 2 carrier bags of fresh, frozen, refrigerated, tinned and dried food as well as other household essentials which are worth between £20 and £30.
There are a wide range of organisations, companies and individuals who help to fund the scheme directly or through donations and providing collection points.
Pan Together also helps the local community in various other ways including by running free Maths and English classes in their IT room, cookery classes in their training kitchen and free drop-in sessions for people wanting to brush up on their IT skills or get help with their CV. Their community café also provides wholesome, affordable food while also acting as a welcoming social hub.
Visiting the centre – which has won numerous awards for its work – you get a real sense of a community trying to come together in extremely challenging times and there were some heart-warming stories here too of people being helped and then giving back in turn.
Rachel talked of another visitor to the larder who lives in a tent:
“Like everyone else he pays £5 and he chooses what he’d like to fill his 2 carrier bags with. Then, just before he leaves, he quietly puts half of 1 carrier bag back for other people. Why? ‘Because having a tent is better than having no tent at all.'”
You can find out more about Pan Together and how you can help here and below you can watch a short film about their work made by Island film-maker David George.
https://vimeo.com/807907406
It is obviously a case of working people without children are struggling, whereas those with children get free rent and c.tax, free school meals, extra help with energy and food, free prescriptions and dental care, get thousands in tax credits and child allowance, many claim to be single, yet never sleep alone, and so have the ‘partners’ income or ‘dealing cash’ as well to ‘survive’ on.
Hence the drive around in powerful cars, in designer gear, women with nails and lashes a foot long, and spray tan, yet pled poverty.
Whereas the FULL time working people, not just ‘doin’ 16 hours to claim U/C or tax credits like those with kids ARE having a hard time.
Need to cut the funding for breeding clones otherwise the problem grows worse
Maybe put them in gabion cages!
100%all correct.i had neighbours scamming state saying she lived alone single ! They were engaged with a kid! Living there but using his parents address nearby.16 hours and she got it all.no checks easy life.ALL SOOO WRONG
He worked cash in hand and claimed.dont feel sorry for the thriving gits
A great idea, well done.
Thank god for compassionate people