With the cost of living crisis gripping communities across Edinburgh, food banks are inundated with visitors trying to make ends meet.
Holy Trinity Church, in Wester Hailes, whose food bank is run by Reverend Rita Welsh, 70, along with a dedicated team of volunteers, is one such setting looking to help a variety of clients.
When the church food bank first opened up 14 years ago, after ministers noticed a need within their local congregation, there were around 25 regular users.
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But fast forward to today and the number stands at 90 adults and 55 kids being fed in a one hour window in Wester Hailes.
There is a mixture of users, from traditional single parent families in Wester Hailes that are down on their luck, to asylum seekers, refugees, and increasingly, pensioners unable to deal with rising energy prices.
Rita, who joined the congregation five years ago and stays a stone's throw away in Currie, says that their ethos is to offer dignity and a safe space to struggling families and individuals.
She invited Edinburgh Live down to volunteer and to experience the service that they offer on Tuesday July 26 from 2pm-3pm.
On the Holy Trinity food bank, she said: “There are many reasons for people using our services, from those suffering from rising fuel costs, to those in rent arrears amongst a host of other reasons.
“At the moment we are not at breaking point and have fantastic backing from the Christian community and our other local partners that allow us to support our clients needs.
“Although we do accept that what we offer is just doing the basics to help people get by.
“But there is a real worry that as winter comes, things may become drastically worse.
“Those using our services do not think about that at the moment, as they are just trying to survive the here and now, but who knows what position they will find themselves in when fuel prices rise again in October.
“We have people deciding between heating and eating. Sometimes it is about whether you have enough energy to feed yourself or to wash with warm water.
“The majority of those who come to the food bank rely on top up meters for their energy - the most expensive form of energy provision - and we try to help those that need it when we can but we only have a limited amount of funds.
“Personally I think it is a disgrace that we have food banks in this day and age. It is a scandal that is needed in a modern society.
“My grandparents lived in the East End of London at the turn of the century in 1900.
“They volunteered in a soup kitchen at the end of the Victorian era, which I guess means there must be something in my blood.
“Of course conditions and indicators of poverty were different then but the scarcity and inequality remains in our society today.
“Something has gone far wrong and nothing has been done about it. The political forces do not seem to have an answer to it.
“Our food bank was launched in 2008, which was well before I came, as we realised there was a need in our congregation for it, with about 25-30 regular users.
“But since the Covid-19 pandemic it has grown considerably. We run our service every Tuesday from 2:00-3:00pm and today we helped 90 adults and 55 children.
“One woman who we helped recently had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and was made redundant.
“She had worked all of her life and you could see that it was difficult for her to come to use our service. She had been given just £38 after losing her job and won’t get her full Universal Credit until August 3.
“Today we have had a woman who has not visited us for four years but has had to come back as her son’s family has moved back in with them.
“This means she now has to feed herself as well as her child and grandchildren and spoke to us about having to wash by boiling a kettle and using a basin.
“You see how grateful people are for the help but we do not do this to feel good about ourselves or to act as though we are doing a great thing, it is all about supporting our community.
“It is about empowering the individuals and their families and giving them dignity and the ability to make their own choices about the food they eat.”
The set up is relatively simple but immensely impactful in its reach.
Clients of the food bank come down to the church and are handed one of three bags: an individual which is for a one or two person household, a family bag or a vegetarian bag - which are extremely popular with local Muslim families that require Halal produce.
In the afternoon, there were families who grew up in Wester Hailes and continue to live there to this day, as well as Romanian, Ukrainian and a variety of Muslim families from various backgrounds.
At the end of the hall - which is traditionally used for a community café from Wednesdays to Fridays and offers free soup and affordable coffee and rolls - is a pick and mix selection of goods.
These include sanitary towels, breads, cereals, tea, coffee, fruits and other vegetables. Upon request, clients can also ask for toiletries if they need them.
Users are also offered freshly prepared meals that they can take home with them and enjoy that day.
Ian Welsh, an ex-prison officer and Rita’s husband, volunteers alongside Mike Banks, David Geddes and Andy, who was absent on this particular afternoon.
The team are well known to those that use the service and the friendly hugs, prayers and handshakes dished out make it feel more like a community gathering than a charity event.
On the service, Rita continued: “What we have found recently is a real uptick in use of single male parents.
“Quite a number of them worked in low paying hospitality jobs during Covid-19 and had sadly lost their jobs.
“As well as this, there are a number of elderly people who are really feeling the pinch as their fuel prices have risen.
“The rise in petrol costs has not really impacted us as no one that relies on our food bank owns a car.
“The school holidays have also seen an increase in vulnerability for some of our families and that is with our partner local organisations and the local schools doing all they can to help.
“I would say we’re not quite at breaking point but when some individuals tell me their stories, they are broken people, some with terrible housing conditions and no hope of getting out of their situations.
“These are such beautiful and lovely people who are just trapped in this position and with many of them suffering from health and addiction problems.
“But the fact they come here each week speaks volumes that something is not right in this society.
“Here we just want to love people and care for them and accept people for where they are in life with no judgement at all.
“We are not a referral service and there is no limit on how much people can use our service - it is simply if you need help, we are here.”
As well as the food bank, Holy Trinity Church also offers the Bridge Community Café, which is open from 10:00am-1:30pm Wednesday to Friday.
Those that wish to visit the café are treated to a free soup and fruit as well as low cost meals and free ‘take and make’ recipe bags.
The Bridge also offers a free counselling service for anyone suffering from mental health issues and those wishing to make an appointment can contact: bridgecounselling@hotmail.com
A free debt service is also offered by Melanie: melaniekilburn@capuk.org and job service is provided by Isabel: isabelseymour@capjobclubs.org
The food bank is open every Tuesday afternoon at Holy Trinity Church, 1-2 Hailesland Place.
Rita and other ministers are also prepared to offer prayer to anyone who wishes to have it.
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