WEST Northumberland Food Bank (WNFB) is innovating and diversifying its approach to tackling poverty to help people rebuild 'stability and confidence' in their lives.
Through its Outreach Pilot, launched last year with support from The National Lottery Community Fund, the food bank has been working one-to-one with people whose challenges extend far beyond food insecurity.
Over the past 12 months, WNFB outreach support worker Ellie Whitfield has supported 36 households, helping individuals facing issues such as insecure housing, debt, long-term illness, and poor mental health to find practical ways forward.
"When someone is living in poverty, the barriers they face rarely exist in isolation. Outreach gives us the time and trust to work through those issues with people, step by step," Ellie said.
The pilot was originally designed to support 40 households over 18 months and is already close to meeting that goal six months ahead of schedule. That progress, says the charity, highlights both the depth of need in the community and the impact of a more personal approach.
By taking the time to understand each person’s situation, outreach helps people tackle the barriers that keep them stuck. Sometimes that means securing Pension Credit, sometimes it is helping someone feel able to visit their GP again, and sometimes it is simply accompanying them to a local coffee morning, so they don’t have to face their situation alone.
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Now, 12 months into the 18-month pilot, almost a third of participants have already achieved their goals, and more than half are now connected with additional services and support to keep them moving forward.
The challenge now is to ensure this vital service continues as the food bank aims to help people move beyond crisis and towards lasting change.
"We’re not just seeing more people ask for help, we’re seeing a real change in who needs it. Our outreach work focuses on helping people who’ve been in long-term poverty to find a bit more stability and move away from crisis support," Ellie added.
"But over the past few months, we’ve had a surge in new callers, many who’ve never needed us before. Rising costs, cuts to benefits, and higher fuel prices mean more people are finding it difficult to manage day to day. Over the summer, we saw an 80 per cent increase in new callers, and we know that number will rise again as winter sets in."
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