Ending UK food poverty is about more than providing emergency food.
The vital work of Coventry Foodbank provides households in crisis with emergency food parcels. The Community Pantry gives members access to a subsidised supermarket for at least 6 months. However, so much more is needed to move families from reliance on the Foodbank to financial stability.
In conjunction with Coventry Foodbank and The Community Pantry, the Pathfinder helpline assists families so that they can access the support they need to overcome the long-term barriers they are facing.
Key Stats
Run by 15 volunteers
650 people supported through our Call Back Team, Sept 2022 to July 2023
Over 2,500 people impacted by the project
Released struggling families from over £170,000 in costs*
*This includes all sorts of financial gains, such as grants to support families, appeals of decisions around debt, or voucher schemes for food and other essentials.
Beginning with relationships
As our Coventry Foodbank and Community Pantry volunteers get to know people, they begin to recognise those that might benefit from extra support. That’s when they ask whether they’d like a call from our Pathfinders team: someone who can chat through their circumstances and help them find a way forward.
Our Pathfinder volunteers pick up the phone every day and listen as people explain the struggles they’re going through. These often include things like:
- Debt, with crippling repayments that drain a household’s weekly budget
- High energy bills that mean families can’t afford a weekly food shop
- Struggles to pay council tax and other necessary bills
Signposting services
From this initial conversation, Pathfinder volunteers can signpost people to relevant services. This ranges from consulting Citizen’s Advice for financial planning, through to bespoke support from Christians Against Poverty. When a few action points have been agreed, another call is set up a little while later. Our volunteers follow up with the family and find out how they’re getting on.
Finding a way through
When we met *Simon at Canley Foodbank, he was clearly struggling. The team there signposted him to some services and sent his details to our Call Back Team.
During our first conversation with Simon, he explained that ill health was the main reason for his financial struggles. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition, but at the same time he couldn’t afford his electricity bills. Cutting back his energy use meant he was struggling to keep warm. The worry and stress from this was causing mental health problems. We gave him some useful numbers to try, but on a follow-up call a few days later it became clear that he was unable to initiate these conversations, due to his poor mental health.
We asked Simon if we could get Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to call him, and he agreed. The CAP advisor rang him and chatted through his situation.
CAP reported back to us that they had been able to sort out his fuel bill – a company error showed a debt of £400 but his debt was only £150. They also got him £160 worth of Coventry City Council’s Household Support Fund vouchers and enrolled him at a social supermarket. They successfully applied for the Big Difference (saving £25 per month on his water bill), helped him to apply for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) through Age Concern and introduced him to a church for their warm space and community.
When someone like Simon begins to struggle, the anxiety can become crippling. A friendly call from us helped him find his way through. This wasn’t simply a financial support for Simon: his mental and physical health benefitted too.
This simple support network takes problems that feel overwhelming and provides some first steps: small goals that are achievable and make a huge difference.
Pathfinder is the final piece of the puzzle in our UK projects to help end food poverty. From emergency food provision through Coventry Foodbank, to The Community Pantry’s subsidised supermarket, to Pathfinder’s friendly signposting to essential services that help people back on their feet: we are releasing people from food poverty, one family at a time.
Your regular gift will sustain our work in the UK and expand our reach as we help end food poverty for families under pressure.
