Richard says he’s ‘frogmarched to cashpoint’ by drug addicts

Richard (not his real name) comes into our London food bank, and gives his account of why he needs emergency food so quickly that he’s hard to follow at times. He doesn’t draw breath.

He’s a former chef, who says that he’s out of work because his combination of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Bipolar Disorder means he can’t take the pressure’. The 45-year-old, who is divorced with three children (aged 20, 17 and 15), separated from his wife many years ago. He was living on the streets and drinking very heavily (a litre and a half of vodka a day to ‘block out reality and the cold’), until his life settled down a bit when he was offered a council flat.

But things have deteriorated again in recent months. He says he’s been left without money for food since drug addicts and pushers on his estate began targeting him for cash, valuables, food and clothes.  According to Richard, nearly £800 in cash has been taken off him recently by these people, with ‘£560 stolen in the past 72 hours’.

He says that when he ‘crashes’ – either forgets to take his medications or has them ‘stolen’ off him by his visitors – he is more vulnerable to those who are targeting him. ‘When I crash people use me as a doormat – they will take advantage of the situation and take what they want. If you say no to them they think no means yes.’

When he initially opened the door to them, he thought they were being friendly: ‘Then one says I’m going to get a couple of beers, and they end up sitting in the flat. I’m not even supposed to drink on the tablets. They started coming in, all pally pally. I didn’t think anything of it on the Saturday.  By Monday I’m going downhill, as I’m not taking my anti-depressant and anti-hyperactivity tablets. They then frogmarched me down to the Post Office. Then they get the pin numbers for your cards, and get into your account. You lose things from your flat, and when they know you’re getting money again they go through the same process.’

Richard says his money is completely gone and the Job Centre has given him the food bank voucher to get his emergency food supply.

He’s reported what’s happening to the police and got a crime number. The local estates officer based at the council ‘ is fully aware of the situation and is trying to get me to move’, he adds. His next money is due to hit his Post Office account on Tuesday. Will he stop opening the door to these people?

Food shopping on £1.42 a day

Stephen, who came into our London food bank last week, is a single  man of 55, but has the vulnerable air of a child. He shared a house with his mum until her death four years ago. He obviously misses her greatly. Although he lives in the next borough, his housing association sent him here  – presumably because ours is the only food bank that was open “nearby” that day. The need for emergency food is so great in our borough that we have 6/7 food banks – each open on a different day of the week. Our food bank is one of nearly 400 that make up the Trussell Trust‘s UK food bank network.

He told me he had a visit from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) the previous day. They were, he said, “trying to get me on Employment Support Allowance (ESA)”, because of his health problems. Stephen is a diabetic, and was diagnosed four years ago. He said  he’s currently surviving on £84 a month disability living allowance, and doesn’t receive jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), because he’s not deemed fit for work.

The process of getting ESA is likely to take some time. Delays to assessment and disputes are common, and seem to lie behind most of the visits to this food bank.

How does he cope on £84 a month? According to Stephen the money goes on rent, electricity (£4) and £40 for food. What does he buy with the £10 a week he has to spend on food? He told me he heads down to the local shop, where he buys five microwavable dinners for £1 each. He spends £3 a week feeding his beloved cat. Stephen has a bowl of cornflakes with some milk for breakfast and saves his microwavable meal for the evening. He said he “doesn’t need two main meals a day”. I’m left speechless.

Disability campaigner Sue Marsh said in a recent letter to the Evening Standard that “just 10 per cent of the sick and disabled people referred to the Government’s work programme are ‘helped’ into work”. She argues that the hardest to help are “parked”, while “huge corporations” cherry pick the easiest cases to ensure they get paid. I’m not confident about Stephen’s prospects in this new world as he struggles towards the bus stop with his bags of food.

Two women: Two brothers

Could her family help her during this difficult time, I asked. The well-spoken and elegant young woman who came to our London foodbank for help on Friday looked distraught and burst into tears. All the visitors who used the foodbank that day seemed to illustrate how the quality of  family bonds can affect their experience of adversity.

Aisha (not her real name) looked to be in her mid-20s. She had to leave the art degree she adored in May – towards the end of her second year – when she was overwhelmed by health issues. These include mental health problems (anxiety/depression), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (I didn’t ask more about that, for fear of upsetting her further), and chronic back pain. She’s been waiting for benefits since May, because her Employment Support Allowance was taken away. She’s challenging this decision, and is waiting for a tribunal, which she said ‘they don’t want to reopen’.

She added: ‘I got too ill to continue studying, and the pain I have in my back makes me feel more miserable. The money I get for rent (on a housing association flat) goes into my bank account and I’m using some of that money to live on.’ She moved to London at that point, but has to make the expensive 150 mile journey to her old uni town to see her doctor, as she needs his input for the tribunal she’s determined to secure. She’s also now faced with paying back her study bursary of £750.

Getting back on her course is a priority for her once she’s well enough to do so. She’s very intelligent and extremely determined – still holding onto her dignity in the face of  these enormous challenges. She said she has a ‘real natural aptitude’ as an artist, and would love to get a job. ‘I don’t want to be sitting around. I don’t want to be in the stands – I want to be in the game. That’s why I went to uni  – so that I could do a job I want to do.’ She said she has been quite careful not to get into debt, but has had to run up a £1,500 overdraft so far on her interest free student bank account.

Yes, she has asked her family for help. She said it’s not forthcoming, despite her brother being ‘a self-made millionaire’. From her description, he’s a well connected very senior professional.  Her problems with her family seemed to start a long time ago. She said she’s always felt like an outsider among them – something of a scapegoat. Her mother is Asian and she wonders if the way she feels she has been treated by them has something to do with perceptions of daughters in some Asian families.

But at this point, she believes that she would ‘rather go without than have a hook’. She added that she had fled abuse at one point, and had ended up at a women’s refuge: ‘I am a hard-up person, but I’m free. I have men in my life who have offered help, but I don’t want the things that might go with the money they would give me. Maybe I’m cautious – or perhaps a bit paranoid. One friend offered help – but he was just waiting for a moment when I was vulnerable. I don’t invite many people into my home now.’

I hesitate to use the word ‘lucky’ to describe another young woman who came in that day. But she must at least be very glad she has a caring brother in her life.

Jenny (not her real name), looked to be in her late 20s. She hadn’t eaten for three days when she came into the foodbank – part of the Trussell Trust UK foodbank network –  needing an emergency supply of food. She has a five-year-old son, who has just started school. Feeding her son is her priority, She’s separated from the unemployed father of the boy.  Jenny, like most of the people who have come in since I started volunteering here,  has a host of chronic health issues. These include stress, anxiety, depression, and thyroid problems. She had been on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), but when she started explaining her health issues to Jobcentre Plus, she was told to switch to Employment Support Allowance (ESA) , which is set at a higher level than JSA. But because there’s a gap in payments while she goes through the assessment process, she’s currently without money.  Jenny has lost her child tax credit, because her son hit a new threshold when he turned five. New forms have to be filled out.

Her family of origin broke up when she was young and she and her brother grew up apart, hundreds of miles away from each other. He grew up in care. But he was there sitting beside her on Friday, and had come up from Devon to try to lend what support he could. She also came in with a kindly older woman – a mother figure who has known both of them since they were young.

Jenny contacted the borough’s Welfare Rights service for advice while she was in with us – and was informed by them that they’re going to tell social services that her son doesn’t have enough to eat.  She left the foodbank clutching her emergency bags of food, along with information about the local council’s emergency support scheme. This scheme offers emergency help with living expenses. People can only apply for this when the help requested is the only way of avoiding serious risk to the health and safety of the applicant or a member of their family.

She left clutching her supply of emergency food, accompanied by her thoughtful brother – who has his own problems to deal with – and that kindly older woman.  Friday reminded me about the influence of  one of life’s true big lotteries – the family into which we’re born.