Fingers crossed for ‘Niall’ today

What are the hot trends in this major world financial centre? Bankers’ bonuses are back on the table, and bidding wars for property in central London are pushing prices higher than before the 2008 crash. In the Guardian on Saturday Ian Jack called London the ‘world HQ of speculative house-buying’.

If you were a qualified chartered accountant from the south of Ireland and  your job disappeared a while back – you might consider it a good idea to  head to this glorious metropolis. Niall (not his real name) must have read the headlines when he did just that and hit the streets of London on September 25.  Irish governments have passed seven austerity budgets since 2008, and according to think tank Civitas, if Ireland exits the bailout programme successfully it will be hailed as ‘a poster child for austerity’. That’s all great, unless  like Niall you find yourself unemployed at the age of 32 after 13 years of work.

Arriving here, Niall has ended up not far from this suburb a few train stops from the City. But now the perspective has shifted. Our pawnbrokers and pound shops suggest an alternative vision of London, although Walthamstow High Street to the north of here still beats us in terms of sheer quantity of payday loan shops.

Niall, who came into our London food bank  – set up by local churches in this borough in partnership with the Trussell Trust  – has been surviving on a £79 emergency loan since he arrived. He moved in with a friend in London, but the young friend he came over with fell out with Niall’s London mate, and the two of them had to leave. They ended up sleeping in a local park the night they were kicked out. Next, they moved in with Niall’s uncle.

Niall said: ‘Things have been rough to say the least. I’ve gone through £500 in the last three weeks, and that’s without socialising. But I’m optimistic. I’ve come with aspirations to do well, not to be a benefit seeker. I have literally got £5 left. I’m applying for any job I can get. If they want me to sweep shit off the street I’ll do it. I don’t think I’m too good to do anything. I’ve applied for 40 jobs in one day, and I’ve applied for 100 jobs since I got here.’

Things may indeed look up very soon for Niall, who is articulate, charismatic and funny. He sent his CV off to a major accountancy firm and they interviewed him today. He showed me a very positive email from the director of human resources, who tells him he’s very much looking forward to meeting him. ‘He’s very impressed by my skills and my knowledge.’

He thanks the volunteers at the food bank for the bags of groceries he and his friend are given, saying: ‘This is going to be a huge benefit.’  He brushes off our concern about the  five mile trip they have to tackle on foot carrying the six heavy bags, saying: ‘Who needs a bus when we’ve got fine legs on us…. I could sit here all day and moan to you, but we just have to get on with it.’ He’s determined to turn his life around.

Penny (not her real name), the mother of five who was so appreciative on Friday when she received help from our London food bank, tells us that she had escaped from an abusive relationship. As a result she has had to move house 11 times, with her older children attending three different secondary schools so far. She has mental health issues – made worse by the stress of trying to feed her girls, who range in age from 14 to four months. Penny was referred to us by her community psychiatric nurse.

She receives £120 every two weeks in Employment Support Allowance (ESA), and £240 in child tax credit a week. But by the time she pays her private landlord £200 a week (which also includes rent arrears) by standing order, she only had £40 left this week to cover gas, electricity and food.

Penny, whose says her ex-husband “hasn’t given me anything”,  believes single parents with larger families are being particularly affected by policies towards claimants: “I’ve been trying to get the council to help for the last six months. I know another mum with five children who can’t afford to feed them.”

Despite all the setbacks, Penny is obviously a loving mother, who does her best for the children. She’s someone who puts her youngsters’ welfare first. “I’m doing a brilliant job. My children are being brought up well. They say please and thank you. All they (the government) want to do is to bring us down. There’s no help when you have babies.” The facts back up her view. Back in 2011, the £500 per child Sure Start maternity grant was restricted to the first child in a family, and crisis loans are no longer available to those on Jobseeker’s Allowance or other low income benefits.

The food bank  – set up by local churches in this borough in partnership with the Trussell Trust – may have been able to ensure that this is a better week for Penny and her children. But her new baby and her older sisters will not thrive unless the family’s future prospects improve quickly.

Grateful single mum of five thanks the Trussell Trust

Volunteering in the food bank exposes you to the dark side of life in London. The circumstances of our clients’ lives are usually very grim. Sometimes what they’re contending with  is so ghastly that you wonder how some of our clients can get out of bed in the morning. Usually it’s because they have to function for their children’s sake – in the hope of  creating some sort of future for them. Not that many of them are in a situation where they can plan much beyond the next few meals.

When they can’t even do that, they end up here if they’re “lucky”. I’ll be posting some very difficult material over the next few days, but am starting today with something amazing. It shows how much one client who came along to this London food bank really values what happened here today.

Penny (not her real name) is a single mum of 38 with mental health issues. She’s been in an abusive relationship and has had to move house several times. She has five children ranging in age from 14 to four months.  She came into us with her eldest girl and her youngest – the baby in the pram. She was given her emergency food voucher by her community psychiatric nurse. I’ll talk more about Penny and her circumstances in the next few days. But she looked so happy when we gave her the emergency groceries for the six of them that I thought I’d linger a bit longer on the upside of  what goes on here. Penny said when we gave her the bags, which included nappies and formula milk:  “What a brilliant job you do here. If it wasn’t for people like you, people like me would lose their children and they would go into care. If you can’t feed your kids then that’s the next stage.”

Her baby woke up at that moment and smiled. Bringing a ray of sunshine into the room. As she left, with her 15 year old daughter (who wants to be a lawyer – I hope she makes it) helping to carry the bags, it was clear she was touched to experience practical support and a listening ear. Her massive difficulties were eased just a little, for a short while.