Hundreds of people across Newcastle are relying on a city homeless charity as their only source of food each day - and numbers are continuing to rise.
The People's Kitchen on Bath Lane has seen the number of people turning up to the charity to receive a hot meal every night almost double in just 18 months as the cost of living crisis bites. Volunteers are serving almost 300 meals to homeless and vulnerable every evening - a figure that has risen sharply from the 150 meals that were being served nightly in December 2020.
The rise in demand is so great that volunteers say the kitchen is regularly reaching its capacity for how many meals it can cook with the facilities it has. However, the dedicated team of volunteers have "reserve meals" on standby to ensure that people do not go hungry.
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But with ever-increasing food prices and utility bills as a result of the cost of living crisis, even more people are expected to turn to the service for support this year.
People's Kitchen volunteer Colin Herron said: "A lot of people are using People's Kitchen as their sole source of food. They are coming in and having a meal and also taking a meal away with them as well.
"We used to do 120 meals on a busy night but we are now doing around 250 meals on an average night. We are getting more and more people in.
"We served 285 meals in just one night last week."
Colin, who has been a volunteer at the People’s Kitchen for 11 years, said he is concerned about what the next few months will bring to those already struggling.
"We have one man who is diabetic and he has to keep his insulin in the fridge," he said.
"He says that after he pays for everything he has £15 a week and that's before his gas and electricity go up. He said to us, 'I will be eating at the kitchen and that's it.' He doesn't know what will happen.'
"For the ones who live on the streets [the cost of living crisis] doesn't make any difference to them, but those who manage to get their own accommodation are going to have nothing left. I think what we will see is more people who were not coming to the kitchen because they could survive, will start to come.
"Some people won't come to the kitchen out of pride but when it gets to the point where it's heating or eating, they will come to us."
Colin expects to see "people from all walks of life" and families turning to the kitchen for food this winter as the cost of living crisis continues to be felt.
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"I think what will tip the balance is when we can't physically cook and hold enough food for the number of people who come in," he said.
"We have a finite capacity to hold cooked food and some nights we are trying to cook other food besides the main meal because we have just literally run out of food. We have a cooking capacity and when it gets over 250 meals we start to say, 'there are people coming in for food here and we are actually out of food.'
"So what we have now are reserve meals which we can produce quickly to give them something. We just don't have the physical capacity to cook any more."
In an effort to keep up with the increasing demand, the kitchen is looking for more volunteers to help out. It is also looking to hold social activities including film nights and book clubs to help boost the mental wellbeing of those who use the service.
The charity is offering "taster sessions" for those who want to try volunteering at the kitchen before committing to offer their time on a regular basis.
"We could do with a few more volunteers," Colin continued.
"We are looking to bring back some of the social activities that our friends love such as a book club, film night and rambling club and would like volunteers to run them. We are looking for people with all sorts of skills; people who want to be drivers or people who can work in the warehouse for a couple of hours.
"We are always after welfare people. We offer welfare training and are keen for anyone from a social background or just a caring person who is happy to sit down for an hour with someone while they pour their heart out or try to get them accommodation. They are priceless."
To donate to The People’s Kitchen visit: www.peopleskitchen.co.uk/donate/ To volunteer, email: recruitment@peopleskitchen.co.uk or call: 0191 222 0699.
Alternatively visit: https://peopleskitchen.co.uk/contact/
