We watched Birmingham food bank queue and met a woman who didn't eat for days
It is a chilly weekday morning and a queue is forming in the middle of an industrial estate in Birmingham. Everyone is here for the same reason, to pick up a food parcel because they cannot afford to eat.
"This is the only time I leave the house in two weeks," one woman told us. She came to Birmingham after fleeing domestic violence, leaving behind family members and a managerial job.
She recalled that on her first visit to the service she had not eaten a proper meal from Thursday until the following Tuesday when the food bank opened. "It is social as well, I get to speak to people, this service is invaluable. I had not eaten from Thursday to Tuesday" she recalled.
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'When you get pensioners at the food bank - something is wrong'
We're at Bethany Community Outreach Food Bank in Witton, which feeds around 1,000 people a month. Situated a stone's throw from the M6, it operates from Brookvale Trading Estate and serves the community as part of the charitable arm of Bethany Pentecostal Church.
During our visit, we spent around two hours chatting to people from all walks of life. From a former TGI Fridays chef, to an ex-teacher who had to pull his own tooth out in a desperate wait for NHS treatment, dozens of Brummies trickled in from 11am to 1pm.
Times are tough for the charity. which spends just over £3,000 a month on rent, as well as paying separate rates to Birmingham City Council. A huge ask for a charity, which, when we visited, had just 32p in its donation tin.
Chief trustee Kevin Warrington oversees the day-to-day operations at the foodbank, which runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. "It costs us a huge amount of money to run. We have applied for grants we do car boot sales and we collect at supermarkets during Christmas" said Kevin.
The 70-year-old charity worker added: "When you start getting pensioners turning up at the food bank there is something wrong."
'I am homeless at the moment'
Also in the queue was Daniel Howdle, who said: "Places like this are so important especially for people with mental health and depression."
The 38-year-old added that if the food bank disappeared, "people would not be around." The food bank is in a busy spot, next to a garage, where service users queue up alongside drivers waiting for new tyres.
Each person gets two to three bags of fresh food to last them for two weeks and there are other additions like fresh flowers and dairy free milk. People queue outside the warehouse while their parcel is prepared by volunteers, one of whom is in his 80s.
"I am homeless at the moment, it helps me out it keeps me fed" Noel Fishley told us.
Until the pandemic, Noel, 52, said he worked in busy restaurants across Birmingham, including chains like TGI Fridays. But he said he fell down a "spiral" after losing his job.
We returned to chat to the woman who was relocated to Birmingham as a result of domestic violence. Chatting to us anonymously, as she is still in a women's shelter, she explained that, as a result of severe anxiety, she only leaves her living quarters once every two weeks to come to the food bank.
Clutching a bouquet of flowers she was delighted to show us what she got, including meat joints, roasted meats and pies. "If this was not here, I would not survive, I can make freshly-cooked meals. I go to the local shop or to here. I have met a few people here," said the former manager.
"I was working but had to leave my job. I haven't had any benefits for two months." But despite her own hardships, she added: "I am thinking about coming to volunteer here.
'I would starve'
"They are absolutely amazing they talk to you like a human. This is proper food, I was able to make a Sunday dinner last time."
Next we spoke to Stephanie Lynch, who lives in supported accommodation. "[I am] living in one room [the food bank] gives me quite a lot, it is an essential support of my living, you get little treats like flowers, that's a bonus" said Stephanie, 40.
Getting ready to leave was Kevin Haines, a retired Birmingham builder who turns his heating off to survive the winter. Kevin, 66, said: "Financially I have just become a pensioner. The money I get, there's no way I can live on that. If it wasn't for them I would starve."
One parent told us she couldn't provide her name as her children did not know she used the food bank. "I have four children. I ended up coming here because my bills took it all away. Money is tight, that extra food helps" she said as she loaded bags into a taxi.
Clutching a bag with rice, chicken and lamb, Zainab Radder, 51, told us:"I left everything in London for the past two months, the food bank has been helping me out. Most of the food I ate in the past two months has been from here. At the end of the day I have something to eat."
On his way out, Paul Gonzales-Proctor told us: "It's one of the only food banks that provides meat, fish and veg." A qualified teacher currently out of work, Paul, 52, added: "I need some dental work doing desperately I have pulled my tooth out in the past."