Annabel Tiffin
BBC News, Manchester
Bbc
Debra Burke said she was initially embarrassed to use the service
A couple who uses a food club to pass it described it as “rescue”, but said they had concerns about how they are facing after household bills are made in April.
Nicknamed “the terrible April” by certain political commentators, next month will see some of the greatest increases in the finances of people in the United Kingdom, with increases in water, energy and tax costs of the council.
Debra and Steven Burke, who live in Little Hulton, Salford, are members of bread and butter, a charity that provides excess supermarket food at a reduced price.
Ms. Burke, 64, worked all her life, but said they were counting on the service so that they can afford their public service bills.
“I don’t know how we will manage, but it’s a buoy of life,” she said.
For £ 8.50, Ms. Burke said that she could collect three bags of food, which means that she has more money to “spend my heating”.
She admitted that she was not eager to use the mobile service at the start, but, when she saw the others use it, her “shame and embarrassment” is gone.
“It’s not ashamed to need help,” she said.
‘Increase the struggle’
The bread and butter thing, founded by Mark Game in 2016, is based at St Peter church in Salford once a week.
Game said that families of low -income workers are a “growing demography” of people who “fight to get out”.
He said: “They will hide it from their colleagues and hide it from their children.
“They will start to have smaller portions on their plate, or have fewer showers and try to protect their family.”
And he warned the prices that the increases will only increase the struggle. “
More than seven million UNITED Utilities customers in the northwest of England will see their water bills jump on average by £ 86 for a typical household.
The cost of gas and electricity also increases when the last energy price ceiling takes effect.
Many will also pay almost 5% more in municipal tax.
David Ogden, 41, is a data analyst and lives with his wife in Little Hulton.
David Ogden said that even if he works full time, he always encounters difficulties
The couple work full time, but they also use bread and butter.
“We realize day-to-day, but every month there is a kind of struggle,” he said.
Being able to use the food club is “quite essential”, he says, but admits that at the beginning, he felt “sheepishly” to use it.
“We all know that there is a stigma concerning the use of things like food banks, but then you see the advantage, and now I don’t feel embarrassed, it’s a brilliant thing.”
