Krista’s story

Working poor among those turning to food banks

“For the past two months it has felt as though I’m a hamster on a wheel and the wheel is running out.”

Krista Brown, 50, has worked full time for most of her life. She owned her own events management company but had to stop when she suffered a stroke.

Then Covid happened and, without work and desperate, she took out three small loans with high interest rates. Since then, she’s been working full time in the charity sector but her wages weren’t enough to meet the rising cost of food and energy and to pay back the interest on the loans.

She recently visited Hackney Food bank for the first time, having been referred by Family Action. Krista attended a Friday night distribution centre set up specially to help the working poor.

She said: “There’s no stigma to asking for help; anyone can find themselves in this position.  When I was at the food bank there was a firefighter and a teacher in the queue with me. Ordinary working people are struggling. Being able to go between 6pm and 8pm on a Friday was really helpful because I’m working and it felt discreet. The people who work there are phenomenal.  They made me feel so welcome. Before that I hadn’t been eating lunch for a couple of months – the food bank gave me tins of soup and I had lunch every day that week.”

In December Krista was diagnosed with a chest infection and told to keep warm. But rising energy costs meant it cost £14 just to have the heating on for one day (via her pre-paid gas meter).

She added: “I couldn’t put it on again - I had duvets piled up on top of me. I couldn’t have felt any poorer. I’ve worked my whole life and this is the first time I’ve ever not been able to heat my house.

“My son is a young man now and lives at home with me his child – he’s been ill and unable to work.  I’m a single mum and always have been.

“I’m not someone with big debts; I don’t have a mortgage, I’ve never owned my own home, my debt could be cleared with £1500 and I’d be back on my feet. But for the past three months, I’ve been flat broke and I’ve reduced my outgoings as much as I can.  I haven’t been able to go out and socialise for years. I def feel socially isolated – all I do is work and go home now. We do free stuff like go for nice walks.  Thankfully I work for a lovely charity and they’re pulling out all the stops to help me.”