THIS IS A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FOODBANK
It’s a brisk, bright February morning in Newcastle’s West End, and on the corner between Benwell Grove and West Road, a queue is forming.
This was the same queue that formed here in 2015, when a production crew arrived to shoot a devastating foodbank scene for I, Daniel Blake , a film that condemned the cruelty and failures of Britain’s welfare system. It’s the same queue that’s formed here every week, twice a week, in the six years since the film was released.
When I, Daniel Blake was filming, the Newcastle West End foodbank group only ran two centres in the city. Today, they operate seven, including the Venerable Bede Church where The Big Issue has arrived to spend a day with the organisation.
Inside, a group of eight volunteers launch into a well-practised routine, laying out an assortment of goods for collection, though today – as one volunteer remarks to another – there’s no frozen food.
Ten minutes before opening, the group are ushered into a small circle by Carole Rowland, welfare manager for the foodbank.
“It’s important to remember that tensions are high at the moment and we need to be mindful of that,” she advises everyone. “People are getting more desperate.”
It’s a stark illustration of the cost of living crisis now gripping the UK. During the past few
