I stood in line for a foodbank and struck up a conversation that will stay with me forever

As I stand in line with foodbank users, we sometimes knock into each other like bowling pins being prepped for the next game. A fitting metaphor since poverty and homelessness are the bowling balls that scatter them across the lane.

Yet when I look at their faces, I remember, at least I have full fridge at home. For the hungry in Small Heath, one of Birmingham's most deprived wards, the trailer in front of them is their only chance to fill their bellies.

It is -1C and my toes are numb, my fingers too stiff to clutch my notebook and pen so I shove them into my messenger bag.

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I flinch from the icy touch of the metal barriers as my face aches from the dry, cold air. Clouds of steam from hot tea and icy breath snake into the air as everyone plunges their hands into their pockets like they were trying to burrow a hole into them.

We are standing outside Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre's (GLMCC) redeveloped foodbank, The Pantry. Once a dingy storage room it is now a clean, fresh trailer that feels less depressing inside.

Dr Abdul-Haqq, the recently appointed CEO, was eager to give dignity back to the poverty stricken by allowing them to put items in a basket and scan them at a till. Healthy options were also sourced to encourage families to eat a home cooked meal together.

I speak to Daniel who sips a cup of hot chai and has tears dripping from his eyes from the cold. He is a former offender now living in exempt housing.

Daniel Simon Lainchbury, 33, said: "I struggle to get by and after rent I have just £10 per day, if not for this food bank I'd starve. I am surviving day-to-day and looking for a job, but if I work I will not be eligible for housing benefit.

"I have a history of offending and came onto the streets living in a tent. Now I live in a HMO and am trying to pick myself up, my mind is slowly coming back to reality.

"This foodbank is bang on and very nice with the refurbishment. It is a life saver, if not for this I would have nothing. Sometimes I just sleep the day away."

When I told him he was one year older than me, he paused before saying "you don't say, and look at you, your'e a journalist working for a newspaper". This struck me as I realised how close we were in age with polar opposite lives.

Things we take for granted like a job, home and car are luxuries for others. I reflected on the depressing hierarchy of privilege in Birmingham where my ordinary life is still unattainable for someone queuing for a foodbank.

Another woman, who I will not name, generously offered Daniel a plastic bag for shopping. She revealed a history of schizophrenia that stopped her working for years.

Family drama including arrests and home imprisonment meant she had no-one, except the staff at GLMCC. Asylum seekers and refugees are in the mix, many left with nothing as they fight for immigration status.

Many of them helped rebuild the foodbank and volunteer in it for job skills. Beshr Tabakh, 26, originally from Syria, said: "I am broke and at one point did not eat for two days. I am unemployed and came to the UK four months ago because English is the only other language I know.

"This foodbank can give me food for three-four days which is good, it is good to help people. I wish we had this in Syria."

It's time to leave before I turn into a snowman yet I feel guilty walking away. I only hope this revamped foodbank gives everyone the illusion of a normal shopping trip, and someday that illusion turns into reality.

The Pantry is open Wednesday (two hours) and Saturday (1 hour) at the GLMCC site. Read more details here.