Tony’s story
Food bank a lifeline for Tony
Tony has been in a wheelchair for the past 20 years and Hackney Foodbank offers a lifeline – bringing emergency food parcels to his door.
The 57-year-old is paralysed from the waist down and the cost-of-living crisis has hit hard. His Disability Living Allowance simply doesn’t stretch as far now.
He said: “It’s so hard – you can buy half the amount of food for £50 now. Everything has gone up in price.
“With the inflation we’ve had, everything costs a lot of money. Today I’ve got a small amount of money but I need new clothes – I haven’t been able to buy new clothes for a long time. It’s hard to even afford the basics now.
“The people at the food bank are brilliant – the work they do for people like me makes such a difference.”
Tony worked in removals and built his own business selling artwork but he fell in with the wrong crowd and, aged 37, made a decision that changed his life forever.
He said: “I injected drugs into my groin – it went into my artery and caused an infection in my spinal cord. When I woke up I couldn’t feel my legs. I was happy as anything before that happened. If telling my story stops people taking drugs – that’s a good thing.”
Tony struggles with depression now and has other health complications; pressure sores and arthritis make it difficult to move around. He lives in Hackney and has family close by. His brother is his main carer.
According to the Trussell Trust’s Hunger in the UK report, released this summer, three quarters of people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network say that they or a member of their household are disabled.
Pat Fitzsimons, CEO of Hackney Foodbank, said: “Many of the people we support are unable to work due to ill health or disability. Benefits simply aren’t enough to cover basic living costs so it falls to organisations like ours to ensure people don’t go hungry.
“We do as much as we can to reach households who struggle to get to the food bank distribution centres – our volunteers visit residents like Tony at home to drop in emergency parcels. As well as ensuring people have enough to eat, it’s often a moment of much-needed social interaction for some, helping to reduce feelings of isolation.”
To support Hackney Foodbank, visit: www.hackney.foodbank.org.uk/make-a-donation