Cost of living crisis: Sheffield S2 Food Bank secures additional premises as demand triples in three months

The team behind S2 Food Bank, based at St Swithun’s Church, Manor, has secured an additional premises which will allow them to expand their services as they work on tackling the financial issues affecting those facing food insecurity.

The new shop, opposite the church on Cary Road, will now be home to their existing ‘food club’ service, and also see the launch of a community shop which will now offer fresh fruit and vegetables and chilled dairy products, alongside frozen items, bread, tinned goods and household items all at affordable prices.

The new shop has come after the food bank has continued to see an increase in demand brought on by the cost of living crisis.

Sue Rose, coordinator of S2 Food Bank, said their demand now has exceeded the figures they saw back at the beginning of the pandemic. She said: “In January and February we fed a further 600 people more than we did at the beginning of the pandemic.

“Last week we saw 106 households come in, and we fed 123 adults and 86 children. The week before was 107 households. Before Christmas we were seeing around 35 households a week.”

The purchase of the community shop formed part of the charity’s five-year strategy plan, and means there will be extended follow-on support for those still needing help after receiving 12-weeks of emergency food parcels, which mainly consists of tinned items.

Users can then be transferred to the food club for up to 26 weeks in which they pay £2.50 a week to shop a number of items at a value of more than £20 through a guided process by volunteers at the food bank.

Before, after a user has taken up the full 38 weeks of service, they would have to be let go from the service so the food bank could admit other people to the service.

But now, the launch of the community shop will see more support for these people, and could offer an alternative for many local people to full enrollment in the food bank.

John Hull, chair of the trustees of the S2 Food Poverty Network said: “The shop will see people have more freedom, and when they come to shop there will be less restriction on what they can buy.

“We’re not at all certain it will work out, or how much people will take and how much we can afford, but the idea is it’s ongoing beyond being in the food club.”

Part of S2 Food Bank’s mission is to help tackle clients’ financial issues to allow them to move on from using the service. As many as 92 per cent of users are facing debt.

From week five of using the food bank, users must agree to work with the volunteers to begin tackling any debts they have. There are currently eight volunteers that have been trained as debt mentors through Community Money Advice who can provide 1:1 support.

The new premises on Cary Road has seen a number of rooms above the shop turned into offices which will allow debt mentors to hold private meetings with users, which was previously difficult to do in the church.

John said: “We've been looking forward to having the shop, and people are really committed and pleased. In a sense it’s sad because we shouldn’t have to be doing this, but on the other hand it’s a great satisfaction how efficient and effective it is.”

He added: “The shop hadn't been occupied for a number of years, and there were questions about gas electric supply and making it safe again, so it’s been about seven or eight months of problems in getting access.

“We thought we'd be open last autumn and it’s a great delight that at last we’ve made it.”

The community shop is due to have an official launch in June. To find out more about S2 Food Bank, visit: https://www.s2foodbank.org.uk/