We ran a food bank for a decade. This is the important reason why we stopped

“There’s profit in food poverty, and that’s what’s so sad about it,” says Keely Dalfen. “I just want everybody to be able to go to a supermarket and be able to shop like everybody else, and there not be a two-tier system.” 

Dalfen runs The Brick anti-poverty charity in Wigan which supports people through homelessness, financial hardship and crisis. Her role gives her a front-row seat to the crisis of food insecurity. But not everyone suffers. 

“Supermarkets are making money out of food poverty. People are going into big supermarkets and buying things like tins of beans and putting them in the baskets at the end of the till.” 

Dalfen’s team at The Brick ran a food bank for almost a decade, but changed to a new model after the pandemic. 

Millions of Brits go hungry every day. We dive into what can be done in our food special, on sale now.

“There’s now an industry around food poverty,” says Keely. “That’s why I was really keen that we moved away from a food bank.” 

They now run it as a community shop, giving people choice and providing £30-40 worth of food for a fiver. The community numbers 3,000 members, with 600 different households using it every month. 

“It felt like it was a very transactional model, there was no choice in what people were receiving. It was causing wastage because we were choosing for people,” says Dalfen. 

“I just don’t think shopping should be a luxury experience. I think it should be something that’s just open to everybody.” 

Read more:

• Supermarkets have a near monopoly on British food. Is it time for change?
• Millions of Brits can’t afford to buy enough food. How do we feed a hungry nation?
• Edible insects were once the future of food. Now it’s crickets. Where did it go wrong?

Dalfen says their impact is clear. “People have said to us they would go hungry, it would literally come down to having to cut back on the amount of food they eat, and other essentials. We want to be sure we’re doing the right thing and not creating a dependency.” 

It can often be hard for those living in food poverty to get support. A recent study found 4,000 children in Wigan were living in poverty but not eligible for free school meals. Seven in 10 adults in Wigan are overweight or obese. 

“Access to affordable, healthy food is difficult,” says Dalfen. When families are trying to find time and make budgets work, “food is the easiest thing to forget about. When your food and nutrition starts to deteriorate, that’s the first slippery slope to self-neglect.” 

Money from Big Issue Invest allowed The Brick to refurbish a warehouse which serves as the Multibank for Greater Manchester. They now support around 10,000 families a month with essentials such as nappies, shampoo and cleaning products.  

“It can free up some budget for people to be able to choose their own food,” says Dalfen. She believes giving people more money  is a big solution. 

“If we can save people money in other areas of their life, and get money back in their own pockets, that’s where we’d make real change,” Dalfen says. “I really believe that people should have a choice over what they’re eating.” 

Food can help to reduce isolation and build community. Dalfen says: “At the moment we’re in quite a divisive society, but food brings people together. I think we’ve got to remember that.”

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