0:00:03 > 0:00:06Hunger is back in the UK.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08The cupboards are empty.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11The worst thing is the first two weeks that you go hungry
0:00:11 > 0:00:13because you're so used to eating normally
0:00:13 > 0:00:15that you wake up and your body's, like, "Right, food."
0:00:15 > 0:00:17And you're not eating.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20For the first time since the establishment of the welfare state,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23large numbers of ordinary people are turning to charity
0:00:23 > 0:00:27to provide food for themselves and their families.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Sometimes people just give you a dirty look and say,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31"What are you doing here?"
0:00:31 > 0:00:33"Look at yourself, look at the way you dress.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35"Do you really need that food?"
0:00:35 > 0:00:39I've spent six months in one Britain's busiest food banks,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42meeting the people who've arrived at a place of last resort.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46From what I can see, you would have less than £100 for electricity,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50gas and food per month. You're definitely below the breadline.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52We just eat one meal a day.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55I won't eat till about ten o'clock so it lasts longer.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58So overnight, you wake up and you're not hungry
0:00:58 > 0:00:59and you can last the next day.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03We've got kids and we've got to think about the kids before ourselves.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14The Hope Centre is one of 11
0:01:14 > 0:01:19emergency food distribution centres in Coventry alone.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23- Do you want to give them two packs of bacon?- Yeah. That's nice.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Run by a Christian charity, food banks provide three days' food
0:01:27 > 0:01:29to people in financial crisis.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34There are now nearly 300 around the country
0:01:34 > 0:01:36and new ones are opening at the rate of two a week.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Chuck these ones in there. That's the tomatoes done.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46- You've done the cereal.- Yeah.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48We need the soup. Soup, soup.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Charlotte is a volunteer at the Hope Centre.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54- You all right, Tone?- Yeah.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58There's going to be two adults, two kids.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59Cool.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Shall I hands you tins, biggest ones first, yeah?
0:02:04 > 0:02:08She has been a client here and is struggling to avoid going hungry.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12When did you last have three meals a day?
0:02:17 > 0:02:18Possibly Christmas.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24- Right. So three months ago.- Yeah.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Obviously, I get the odd day where I'll eat something,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30but on the whole, just dinner, really.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33After a while, you learn to just kind of deal with it
0:02:33 > 0:02:38and pull your energy from somewhere way within.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40So now I'm just...
0:02:40 > 0:02:45I think I constantly buzz off adrenaline or something.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I don't know what it is. But it's not food.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Brought up in care, Charlotte's a full-time student at sixth-form college
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and has fallen through a hole in the benefits system.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00You sign that one for me.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Because I'm in full-time education
0:03:03 > 0:03:06with no children at the age of 21,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09there's nothing for me. There's nothing.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10I can't have Housing Benefit,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Income Support, Job Seeker's Allowance.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16What did they say at the Jobcentre? You must've said, "I can't eat."
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Um, telling me that they're really, really sorry
0:03:20 > 0:03:22that they can't do anything.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26And then it got worse and worse during the conversation to a point where she said,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29"The only thing I can suggest is why don't you just have a child?
0:03:29 > 0:03:33"Then you'd be able to sign on for benefits, if you want to do college."
0:03:33 > 0:03:37So hang on, so somebody in the benefits agency
0:03:37 > 0:03:40suggested your solution was to have a child at the age of 21?
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Yes. At the age of 21.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Bearing in mind, I'm not mature for a 21-year-old.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I've been in care. I haven't grown up yet.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52I ended up coming to the food bank.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55The first time was awful.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57You feel so embarrassed.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00You don't even want to pull the food voucher out.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04I was worried about walking home with bags saying "food bank",
0:04:04 > 0:04:08because I was scared that everyone would know as I walked home
0:04:08 > 0:04:11that I'd had to go somewhere for food.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13But they give you just normal bags.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16So when I walked home, it was all right.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21'Unlike other food banks around the country
0:04:21 > 0:04:24'that only hand out non-perishables, Coventry receives a supply
0:04:24 > 0:04:28'of fresh food, donated by a wholesale supermarket chain.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31'Food close to its sell-by date is given to charities
0:04:31 > 0:04:34'rather than thrown away.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'It makes a valuable contribution to the standard food parcels.'
0:04:37 > 0:04:40So, is that looking like a decent amount of fresh food today?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Today, yeah.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Bit more variety than we've had the last couple of weeks.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47Bananas, we haven't had for ages.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Weak muscles, tiny arms.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53'This food has to be distributed on the day it arrives.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55'That means Charlotte gets to take home
0:04:55 > 0:04:58'some of the leftovers at the end of the day.'
0:04:58 > 0:05:00So, what have you got today?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I've got...bagels,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05mince,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07apple pie,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09vegetable pie,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12oranges,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15potato salad and bread...
0:05:16 > 0:05:20..which will last me about four days, easily.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34'Today's last client arrives as the centre is closing.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38'Kelly is a mother of two who's been sent here by Social Services
0:05:38 > 0:05:40'and has had to walk miles.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43'She tells me she hasn't eaten for two days.'
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- How old is he?- Six months.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Is he on solids yet?
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's greedy.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54'Until the birth of her youngest child, Kelly was a sales manager.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58'She's recently been on statutory maternity benefit,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00'but with a 15-year-old son,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'it hasn't been enough to cover their living expenses,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05'and food has run out.'
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Yeah. So that's pretty desperate, isn't it?
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Yeah.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Baked beans. A few vegetables.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Yeah, there's bits of everything. Tuna.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Jack? Come here, babe. Pop those in the freezer.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Freezer. Ice cream!
0:06:29 > 0:06:33'And it's not just Kelly who's been going hungry.'
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Has Jack eaten all right in the last few days?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39No. Last couple of days, he hasn't at all.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- What have you eaten today? Have you eaten at school?- He hasn't yet.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46We can't get free school dinners until the Income Support is sorted.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Which is why I have to come home now to make dinner for him straight from school.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54OK. So, is that why you were so desperate today?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- Yeah. For him.- Right.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00It's been hard. He's been eating, but obviously,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04not enough to what he should be eating or what he would want to eat.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07It's been constantly trying to figure out
0:07:07 > 0:07:11how to make what we did have stretch just that bit further,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13just to make enough so he wasn't hungry.
0:07:15 > 0:07:16But that ran out last night.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The last meal was last night.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22This morning, I rang the Jobcentre,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25they told me to ring Social Services
0:07:25 > 0:07:28who spoke to me and told me to go to them
0:07:28 > 0:07:30to get the voucher for food bank.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33It's something that I never thought I'd see myself doing.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I'm always the one that gives.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38- Every time a charity bag comes through, I always fill it up.- Right.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Um...I never thought I'd be on the other end of it.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45'With a low income, Kelly has struggled for years
0:07:45 > 0:07:47'to keep her head above water
0:07:47 > 0:07:50'and has now decided to leave the world of work altogether.'
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Financially, I can't afford to go back into work.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Not only have I got to pay the mortgage, the council tax,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00the food, which is what you have to do, anyway,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02I've then got to find my childcare.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Where I can stay at home, bring him up myself
0:08:06 > 0:08:09- and have more money in my hand. - Right.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13So essentially now, you're going to live a life on benefits for while.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Yeah. Do something that I always said I never wanted to do.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Right.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22The rapid spread of the food bank network
0:08:22 > 0:08:25is due to the cooperation of the state sector.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29To get the free food parcels, clients must be referred here
0:08:29 > 0:08:33by social care agencies who assess their situation.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35If they're at the point of desperation,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37a red voucher is issued.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- So this is good to go.- OK. - All right?
0:08:40 > 0:08:45- So you're feeding one adult and two children.- OK.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48In theory, there's a limit of three vouchers per crisis
0:08:48 > 0:08:51to provide a stopgap.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54In reality, though, not all crises are short term,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57so sometimes, the rules are broken.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Sandra is a married mother of five.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Her vouchers are issued by her children's nursery
0:09:08 > 0:09:12and she's now relying on the food bank on a weekly basis.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18So essentially, this has become your regularly weekly shopping trip?
0:09:18 > 0:09:23Yes. Sometimes they have quite lot to give to us.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27- It will last, say, about four days, five.- Right.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31- It depends what they have available at the end of the day.- Sure.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35'She stops at food bank on her way home from part-time voluntary work.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'The picture you have from food bank
0:09:39 > 0:09:41'is people, they are poor, they are begging.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46'Seeing myself in that position is quite humiliating.'
0:09:47 > 0:09:49- I'll wait here.- OK.- Yeah? Thanks.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53When I come here, I stay here.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Sometimes people just give you, like, a dirty look,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59say, "What are you doing here?"
0:09:59 > 0:10:01"Look at you, look at the way you dress.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03- "Do you really need that food?"- OK.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06- So you think people are judging you? - Yeah.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12- They didn't have biscuits, so I loaded it with chocolate.- It's OK.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14If you tap on that door, you can grab your meat.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- We've got you a big pack of mince. - Thank you.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21'At this stage, I don't want to consider myself to be poor...
0:10:21 > 0:10:24'but I'm not far off.'
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Like, this week, I have £50 to live on, with the five children.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32That means I need to choose with the £50 between electricity,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34gas... food.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Two years ago, we were settled.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41My husband was working.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45We bought a 50-inch TV, we bought a Mac.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47We have a nice house, and I'm proud.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Are you going to be good?
0:10:50 > 0:10:53It was Sandra's refusal to live solely on welfare
0:10:53 > 0:10:56that caused a catastrophic situation.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Her husband left work nearly three years ago
0:10:59 > 0:11:01to study for a career in youth justice.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Sandra decided to take a part-time job in MacDonald's,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08not knowing it would halve her Housing Benefit.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13After I find the job, I was quite happy.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16When I rung the Revenue to say, "I'm working,"
0:11:16 > 0:11:18is when all the problems started,
0:11:18 > 0:11:23because it was one benefit after another, just stop, stop, stop.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27My salary, every two weeks, being £79,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32they was expecting me to pay the rest of the rent.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35- But your salary was tiny?- Yes.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37OK. So what happened?
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Basically, we got in trouble. We got behind with the rent.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45All the four months I was working for McDonald's,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49all those months, we was behind with the rent.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Did you end up in the situation because you chose to work?
0:11:54 > 0:11:55Yeah.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00You were managing OK before that with benefits and student loans and so on?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Yes. I think if I stay in the benefit,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06I wouldn't be in so much debt now.
0:12:06 > 0:12:13I decided, "I've had enough. I want to go to work, I want to be able to contribute for the country."
0:12:13 > 0:12:16I think that probably was my big mistake.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Look at that.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24If the food bank hadn't been there, what would you have done?
0:12:26 > 0:12:29I don't know. I don't think we would be here.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32I would have lost the house, I would have lost myself,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35because, at the end of the day, it's not easy. You see five children
0:12:35 > 0:12:38scrambling for food and you don't have owt to support them.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I can't be crying.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43I can't be down. I can't be stressed and screaming and shouting.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I can't, because, at the end of the day, I don't want my children
0:12:46 > 0:12:49to have that picture of me.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51And inside, I'm devastated.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Irish stew, lovely.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Most of the food given out by the food banks is non-perishable,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and donated by the general public at supermarket collections.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Thank you. Have a great weekend. Thank you.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11Gavin Kibble is Director of the whole Coventry network.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14A typical day at this ASDA will generate something between
0:13:14 > 0:13:16half a tonne and three-quarters of a tonne of food.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Current rate?
0:13:18 > 0:13:20We're getting through just shy of a tonne a week at the moment.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24So, even if we get three-quarters of a tonne of food today,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26it probably only lasts about a week.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I think we're going to run out of food.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Demand has been growing steadily
0:13:33 > 0:13:36since the Coventry food bank started in spring last year.
0:13:36 > 0:13:42Several times since I've been here, the Hope Centre has run out of food.
0:13:42 > 0:13:43What a day.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46There's always enough food in the Coventry network,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50but not always in the right place at the right time.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53- Are you...Craig?- Yes, I am.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55We haven't got enough to feed you today
0:13:55 > 0:13:58but there is another location open at this time,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02which is at the Jesus Centre, in Lamb Street.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05How do we know we're not going to go there and the same thing?
0:14:05 > 0:14:09I could give them a ring, cos we don't know the volumes on any particular day.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Hi, there. Have you still got food stocks left?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Good. We've been decimated.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Absolutely wiped out.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I'm going to put them in the car and bring them down.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Today, instead of moving food around,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29clients are having to be moved to another distribution centre.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35We would hold, normally, about a quarter of a tonne of stock.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39It's just gone in the space of an hour and ten minutes.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I can't put my finger on what has changed out there.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47And why that happens one week and doesn't happen another.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50But the point is, it kind of tells you that actually there is a need
0:14:50 > 0:14:51out there that needs to be met.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53Come on in.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59I've bought the overspill with me, to feed them.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01That's all I could get in the van.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03HE LAUGHS
0:15:06 > 0:15:08In the last year,
0:15:08 > 0:15:12this slightly ad-hoc charitable supply chain has ensured that
0:15:12 > 0:15:17around 170,000 people throughout the country have received emergency food.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Hello. I'm very sorry to disturb you.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24From the food bank. Just asking for 10p or 20p to help families and children in crisis.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Thank you very much.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29A-ha! Your mate just dropped you right in it.
0:15:29 > 0:15:3110p, 20p?
0:15:31 > 0:15:35That's just rude. This is to feed kids and families. Thanks.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40Charlotte is fundraising at Coventry City College.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Excuse me, before you walk any further, would you like to help
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Coventry Foodbank just by 10p or 20p?
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Nah?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Thank you, anyway.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I get very slightly annoyed.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53It's like I have to stop myself.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Looking around, do you think
0:15:56 > 0:16:00people are aware of the kind of hardships that some people have?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02No. I do this all the time.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06I watch people wherever I am. You can never really pick out the ones that are troubled.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10I reckon if you spotted me in a crowd, you wouldn't know I was someone who was struggling.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Right.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Do you feel jealous when you look at other people?
0:16:16 > 0:16:17Very much so.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21I would love to have a Blackberry phone like everyone else.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25And new clothes, like you see all the girls and their make-up and their clothes.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28That's a little bit upsetting.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Sometimes I wish I had somewhere to go back to, as well, at night,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34with a family and that.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38The ones who look healthy and chubby and happy, they've got a family.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42What can you tell from looking at these girls?
0:16:42 > 0:16:45They're like they're really, really happy.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48They obviously ain't got anything else to worry about.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51They're probably just worried about what to wear in the morning.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54That's the least of my worries, that is.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56What do you get up and worry about?
0:16:56 > 0:17:00How to get electric on, because the electric meter's bleeping,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03or...when I'm going to eat.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Look at them! I'd chop my arm off to have one of them!
0:17:08 > 0:17:10I'd chop my arm off, easy!
0:17:10 > 0:17:15Look how nice they look! Oh, what I would do!
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Look, and she's got a really nice rug. SHE LAUGHS
0:17:19 > 0:17:24It looks so grotty. Someone's even got their windows boarded up.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28This is my lovely front door(!)
0:17:28 > 0:17:31When we were back at the college, I asked you if I could buy you
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- a sandwich for lunch.- Yeah.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Explain to me why you said no.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Because if I eat at lunch
0:17:39 > 0:17:42and keep eating, I'll get hungry tomorrow at lunch.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44But if I skip meals in the day,
0:17:44 > 0:17:48- I can go and just eat at night, just eat my dinner.- Right.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Do you know what I mean?
0:17:50 > 0:17:53You're not eating during the day...
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Yeah, cos it shrinks your belly, so you get less hungry. It oppresses your appetite.
0:18:00 > 0:18:01CHILD SINGS
0:18:02 > 0:18:07It's amazing how you can sing today. Go on, get your scooter.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12'Darren has just been to Foodbank, having been given a voucher by the Jobcentre.'
0:18:12 > 0:18:15It has been a godsend. They really have helped us.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18'Recently made redundant from a management position,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21'there's been a delay setting up his benefits.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26'He now finds himself battling an unfamiliar system.'
0:18:26 > 0:18:28I always used to be very critical of people
0:18:28 > 0:18:30that went to Jobcentres.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35Having experienced it myself, more and more, on a daily basis,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37I sympathise with a lot of them.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I can see where a lot of their frustration comes from, I really can.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44I'd made my benefit claim six weeks ago, and they lost it.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Everything had gone, completely. They admitted liability.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51It doesn't do a lot of your self-esteem.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54It makes you think you're not a human being, just another number.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57'Darren's money has completely run out...
0:18:59 > 0:19:02'..but the benefits he's owed should be in his account today.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04'We're going to the cashpoint to find out.'
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Right, here we go.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Shall we have a look?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Are you nervous about this?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Yeah, incredibly. Yeah, incredibly.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25And there you have minus £19.22,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29which means everything they said they were going to do,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32they haven't done, so tomorrow morning, I will be back down there.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I am really fed up now!
0:19:35 > 0:19:37OK, and how much were you supposed to have in there?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40£387, or thereabouts.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Right, and that would have been back pay for the six weeks...?
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Six weeks, yeah.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50OK, do you want to get me crying?
0:19:52 > 0:19:57At this point, without Foodbank, what would you be doing to feed your family?
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Probably getting a black sack and running up
0:20:00 > 0:20:03and down this street, throwing things into it.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I don't know where I would turn. I haven't got the foggiest.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13'Darren now has to take the last £10 out of his savings account.'
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Milk and bread.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21'Darren tells me he had a senior managerial job.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26'It seems his sudden fall into poverty could happen to any of us.'
0:20:26 > 0:20:29I had been, for a number of years, managing...
0:20:29 > 0:20:31a group of recruitment agencies.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37I was commuting to Northampton and back, every day, and, erm...
0:20:37 > 0:20:42I went there one day and the offices were all locked. I didn't know what was going on.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45I came home and next thing I knew, there was a tap on the door.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48"Can we have the car and the laptop back, please?"
0:20:48 > 0:20:49"Why?"
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Cos we're not financially viable, I'm afraid,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57we've run before we can walk, and we're pulling the plug.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01'The following day, Darren heads to the Jobcentre to make a free call
0:21:01 > 0:21:04'to the Benefits Agency.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07'On the way, a friend phoned and told him he was unable to lend him
0:21:07 > 0:21:09'some money.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12'Darren tells me this means his youngest son's birthday
0:21:12 > 0:21:14'will have to be cancelled.'
0:21:14 > 0:21:16We've now got to try
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and explain to a six-year-old child why he's going to wake up on his birthday
0:21:20 > 0:21:26- and not be like the other kids ripping open wrapping paper for his birthday.- Right.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Of all the stuff that's going on,
0:21:30 > 0:21:31I guess that must be the most painful?
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Absolutely. At the minute, yeah.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37You wouldn't want to be inside my knotted stomach at the minute.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43I'll tell you why I'm calling. You can see my claim on there.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47We had to get a food voucher last week,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49because you guys had messed up on my claim,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51which was six weeks ago.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56I've got a family to look after. We've got no money. We'll need to get another food parcel...
0:21:56 > 0:21:58and it's my son's birthday,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02and he won't be receiving anything for his birthday, thanks to you.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05So when's the next available appointment, please?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Tuesday next week is the first time you can get me in?
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It's unacceptable. Unacceptable.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15You know, at the end of the day, I wouldn't want you to live
0:22:15 > 0:22:19in the situation I'm living in right now, I really wouldn't.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20HE HANGS UP
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'I've got kids similar ages to Darren's,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'and the thought of Ben missing out on a birthday was terrible,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31'so I offered to lend Darren some money for presents.'
0:22:33 > 0:22:34Thank you, bye.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44'The charity behind Foodbank is called the Trussell Trust,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47'a Christian organisation that franchises out
0:22:47 > 0:22:52'the running of food banks to local, mostly evangelical, churches.'
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Thank you. See you later, darling!
0:23:00 > 0:23:04'Gavin, the director of the Coventry network,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06'gave up work as an accountant two years ago
0:23:06 > 0:23:09'to follow a more spiritual road.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11'Tonight, we're on our way to pick up Kelly,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14'the mother-of-two I'd met earlier.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18'Gavin's invited her to speak at a Christian event.'
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Kelly's going to be interviewed, as far as I'm aware, on stage.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25What Kelly has to offer is that, at the end of the day,
0:23:25 > 0:23:26we can talk about the process
0:23:26 > 0:23:29and we can talk about how great it is,
0:23:29 > 0:23:35but that's never expressed as well as through the life of somebody who has benefited from it.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38They're quite broken - Kelly's an example of this -
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and they come along to Foodbank, the cupboard's full,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45and, for a short time, there's an answer there.
0:23:45 > 0:23:51And we like to think it's a measure of bringing a little bit of heaven into people's lives.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53If we can give people an experience
0:23:53 > 0:23:57of meeting and knowing the living God, great.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59That's just fabulous.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Hello, you coming?
0:24:02 > 0:24:03This is a lot of dogs.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07You've got the baby. This is your 15-year-old, is it?
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Hello, 15-year-old.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Might need a bit of rhythm...
0:24:19 > 0:24:23# Strength will rise as we wait upon the glory
0:24:23 > 0:24:29# Wait upon the glory Wait upon the glory
0:24:29 > 0:24:33# Strength will rise as we wait upon the glory... #
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Is the environment a bit alien for you?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Yeah, a little bit.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42# Lord God, you reign
0:24:42 > 0:24:46# For ever
0:24:46 > 0:24:53# Be to our God, for ever and ever
0:24:53 > 0:24:56# Be to our God For ever and ever... #
0:24:56 > 0:25:02This get-together is organised by Christians Against Poverty, part of an evangelical movement
0:25:02 > 0:25:05to provide social services to the most disadvantaged...
0:25:05 > 0:25:06and to win converts.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Thank you so much for coming to join with us
0:25:10 > 0:25:12to remember the poor this evening.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15We come together to remember the poor,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17and we're excited about the fact that,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19as individuals here this evening,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23you guys are remembering the poor in so many ways.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25To start with, if you'd like to put your hands together
0:25:25 > 0:25:29for Gavin Kibble and Kelly, who's going to share his story.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32We thought it would be really good
0:25:32 > 0:25:35if you met a lady that come through the food bank
0:25:35 > 0:25:38a few weeks ago, and you heard from her
0:25:38 > 0:25:43how she came to be in place where she needed to be touched by the love of...
0:25:43 > 0:25:45so many Christians.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Tell us a little bit about that moment when you realised
0:25:47 > 0:25:50you needed some outside help, how you went about getting it,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52and what your experience was.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I woke up in the morning. I was panicking.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57My eldest son was coming home from school, expecting a dinner.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59There wasn't anything, at this point.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02I then had to ring Social Services,
0:26:02 > 0:26:03and they told me about Foodbank
0:26:03 > 0:26:07and got me a voucher and got me sorted out.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Kelly's situation is not unusual.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15It is amazing to see the church of God rise up in the city of Coventry...
0:26:15 > 0:26:20and demonstrate that God really does love everybody in that city.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27'I don't know if God loves the people of Coventry,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31'but gambling and loan companies certainly do.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35'Within an area of 100 meters in the town centre,
0:26:35 > 0:26:40'there are ten betting shops and five high-interest moneylenders.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42'Charlotte is on her way to one of these.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44'She's still got no income at all,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48'and her boyfriend's benefits have been temporarily suspended.
0:26:48 > 0:26:54'She's had to hock her college laptop for £25 to pay living expenses.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'To get it back, she has to pay £32.50 within three weeks.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04'She's basically taken a loan with a 480% interest rate.'
0:27:05 > 0:27:09The emergency electric had gone. We were sitting in the dark.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12If I had left it, we wouldn't have had anything to wash in...
0:27:12 > 0:27:13no light, or nothing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16No heat, no light, no food - nothing.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20So I had to go and put it in, and all my college work is on there,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23all my pictures, all my baby pictures.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25The only ones I've got are on there.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27What did you do with the £25?
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Went and put £10 on my electric.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34I put £5 on gas, to take it off emergency.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37And I spend £10 on food...
0:27:37 > 0:27:40which got me through about... a week.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45And how long would you have had to pay up?
0:27:45 > 0:27:49I have three weeks, but in three weeks I know there's no money.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52I don't know where my next meal is coming from, never mind...
0:27:53 > 0:27:56..actual cash in my hand.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00£32.50 is a LOT of money, a lot.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06'To me, £32.50 doesn't really feel like that much money.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10'So I've given her the cash to get her laptop back.'
0:28:10 > 0:28:12- Laptop?- Yes, please. Thank you very much.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15That's 32.50, yeah?
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Thank you.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'Sandra is at the Hope Centre with her husband, Kelvin.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27'There's been a delay reinstating the family's benefits,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29'and their debts are mounting.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33'I'm struck by how different Sandra appears from the first time I filmed her.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37'To me, they both look as though they're in real distress.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Are you getting your benefits now?
0:28:40 > 0:28:44We're starting to work it out with Housing Benefits.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47We're looking for a job now, me and Kelvin.
0:28:47 > 0:28:48We've just had enough.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51'A meeting's been called with the family's social care
0:28:51 > 0:28:53'team and the children's teachers.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58'The first point for discussion is the effect on their eldest son's' school life.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03I don't know if this is a front he is putting up...
0:29:03 > 0:29:08- but he didn't want to let anybody in. Does that make sense?- Yes.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11He's quite embarrassed. Being 13 years old, it's not easy.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Carl packed the lunch.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I'm sure nobody else knows this, because he done a very good job,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19but bread and water, that's it.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23He made sure nobody else could see that,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25but you could see in his face.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29It's not nice. You sit with your mates and you have just bread and water.
0:29:29 > 0:29:30We couldn't afford anything else.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33And he got so happy when he got his free school meal.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Oh, God, he was really delighted.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39'Apart from the struggle for food,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43'the family are still in serious debt to their landlord.'
0:29:43 > 0:29:45In the last meeting, we talked about,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47can you afford in the long term,
0:29:47 > 0:29:48for twelve months,
0:29:48 > 0:29:49to stay in the property?
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Have you come to any conclusion of where you want to go
0:29:53 > 0:29:54and what you want to do?
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Yeah.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Basically, me and Kelvin came to the conclusion
0:30:00 > 0:30:03- we cannot afford to pay.- OK.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08And...the solution is, be...homeless.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10OK.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Register as homeless and see how it goes.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14If you made yourself homeless,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18they may not offer you a house straightaway, they may offer you bed and breakfast,
0:30:18 > 0:30:19- or something like that.- Yep.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Which means you could be in there for a good few months
0:30:22 > 0:30:24before they find you a place.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29SHE SOBS
0:30:30 > 0:30:34We just can't take it any more.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Just can't take it any more.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41I'm in that situation, not because I am lazy.
0:30:41 > 0:30:42I want to work,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and I lost everything to choose to go into work.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51But sometimes you think you make the right decision,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53but you make the wrong decision.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58Being lazy would help my situation. Being working, it doesn't.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01'Caroline, the younger Children's Welfare Officer,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04'is the person who's been issuing the family's food vouchers.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06'But on Sandra's last visit,
0:31:06 > 0:31:12'she was challenged by Gavin about her repeated use of the service.'
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Caroline, with all the respect, I do appreciate your help,
0:31:15 > 0:31:20but after last week, when we came here, we made the decision,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23no way I want anything to do with the food bank. No way.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Because that is not the way to treat people.
0:31:26 > 0:31:32Three vouchers, in reality, that is enough...? It's not.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34In their defence, they're all volunteers.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36They're not professional people.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40It's no excuse, because I'm a volunteer where I'm working,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43and I don't get paid not one penny,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46but I'm doing my job. I'm stressed, I cry every day.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I can't even stand on my legs sometimes when I'm hungry,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52but I go there and I am professional.
0:31:52 > 0:31:57I am. I don't treat anyone badly.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Something went wrong in terms of Sandra's experience
0:32:01 > 0:32:04with Foodbank, didn't it?
0:32:04 > 0:32:08Yes, and I'm still trying to get to the bottom of exactly what that experience was.
0:32:08 > 0:32:14From what I can gather, coming here is a very difficult thing
0:32:14 > 0:32:18for her to do and, given that, the mere fact her entitlement
0:32:18 > 0:32:22was questioned was enough to sort of push her over the edge.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Yeah, and that's the same impression that I get.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28At the end of the day, we have to avoid abuse.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31If you're at seven or eight referrals, that's our duty to challenge it.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34It really is unfortunate
0:32:34 > 0:32:39that somebody's pride and dignity is offended by that.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43I feel I have a duty to everybody who contributes food into the food bank
0:32:43 > 0:32:47to be sure we're feeding the right people.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59'Darren is on his way to Foodbank for a second time,
0:32:59 > 0:33:00'a week after he was first here.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07'Gavin knows he's coming and is bending the rules to save
0:33:07 > 0:33:10'Darren the trouble of returning to the Jobcentre for a voucher.'
0:33:10 > 0:33:13- Hello, nice to see you.- It's good to see you.- How's things?
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Well, better for me than for you, I think.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18- Thank you for that. - That's all right.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23'Tomorrow is Darren's youngest son's birthday.'
0:33:23 > 0:33:27- Gavin's seven tomorrow, isn't he?- Yeah, that's right.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32'A birthday cake has been put aside from today's delivery of fresh food.'
0:33:32 > 0:33:34- Here's your gateau...- Thank you.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37..for your son's birthday.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Good day to get food, today.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Good day for a slab of chocolate gateau.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47Have you got enough birthday candles?
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Yeah, last year's - just add one to it.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54'Darren's quickly getting familiar with the system.'
0:33:54 > 0:33:56What's that? Oh!
0:33:56 > 0:34:01'And today, he's taking home close to £100-worth of food.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06'Gavin offers to give Darren a lift home with the shopping.'
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Thanks ever so much.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17'For Charlotte, there's been a dramatic change in circumstances.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19'Originally from London,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22'she was moved to Coventry by Social Services,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25'but they then lost contact with her. She's back in touch now,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28'and because they have a responsibility toward her
0:34:28 > 0:34:32'until she's 24, she's now getting regular hardship payments,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34'and can go shopping.'
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I don't get none of my veg from here.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Because Foleshill Road do them really cheap, like 10p an onion and stuff.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47'But she's living on what must be the bare minimum.'
0:34:47 > 0:34:50So how much have you got to spend now?
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Well, I've got £20, but meats in a bag, like sausages,
0:34:54 > 0:34:59I normally get from Iceland cos they're cheap and cheerful.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03£20 will last you how long?
0:35:03 > 0:35:05A week, easily.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09Back then, I could never afford anything like that.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13- Even now, you couldn't afford that. Couldn't afford a chicken.- No!
0:35:14 > 0:35:16'Now you do have money for food,'
0:35:16 > 0:35:20- do you see that you were starving for the past three months?- Yeah.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23That's the way you see it, is it?
0:35:23 > 0:35:25Yeah. Badly, as well.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29I was living off one meal a day, if that.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34The worst thing is the first two weeks that you go hungry,
0:35:34 > 0:35:36cos you're used to eating normally,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40you wake up and your body's like, "Food!" and you're not eating.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44By the time it gets round to dinner, it sounds stupid,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47you're that hungry, you're not hungry.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50It almost becomes a game.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55You get wrapped up in this sick little game where you think,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58"If I can stop eating for this amount of time,
0:35:58 > 0:36:03"then I'll have this amount of food for the next day."
0:36:03 > 0:36:05How much did that lot cost you?
0:36:05 > 0:36:07It come to...
0:36:08 > 0:36:11£6.89.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13That's quite expensive, still.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I know to other people that don't sound expensive for all the stuff I got, £6.89.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19I've got to get toilet roll, shower gel...
0:36:19 > 0:36:22They're always left till last.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24OK. Cos they're less essential?
0:36:24 > 0:36:26SHE LAUGHS
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I seem to survive on very little knowledge.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34There were so many things I got confused about
0:36:34 > 0:36:36- because no-one has taught me.- Sure.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Ah!
0:36:39 > 0:36:40SHE LAUGHS
0:36:40 > 0:36:42She was gorgeous!
0:36:44 > 0:36:46'For somebody who's grown up in care,
0:36:46 > 0:36:50'Charlotte seems to have a determination to better herself,
0:36:50 > 0:36:55'despite never having a proper family to learn from.'
0:36:55 > 0:36:58She's lovely!
0:36:58 > 0:37:01- That's not beetroot!- It is.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Beetroot's red!
0:37:03 > 0:37:05It will be red, if you clean the mud off it.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Oh. Wow! Really?
0:37:09 > 0:37:13I worked out I didn't like avocado from Foodbank.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16That's that green thing, isn't it? I didn't like that.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20'Charlotte may now be able to buy food,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22'but what she's been through in the last months
0:37:22 > 0:37:26'is just a continuation of what she's endured throughout her life,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29'and things have finally got too much for her.'
0:37:29 > 0:37:32I was passed from foster carer to foster carer
0:37:32 > 0:37:36with a black bin liner full of my stuff and told to get on with it.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41They say, "Here's the shower, here's the kitchen, here's your bedroom, off you go."
0:37:41 > 0:37:44You don't even want to come out of the bedroom, you don't even want to use the shower.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48I think all that's catching up on me.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53I went to the doctor's to get temazepam to sleep, cos that's the main thing.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58I can't sleep, even with the temazepam. It's doing my head in. I'm knackered all the time.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01- I think I'm having breakdown.- Do you?
0:38:01 > 0:38:06Yeah. I'm not like this. I'm not self-pitying, normally, either.
0:38:07 > 0:38:08Sounds silly and selfish.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10I feel really sorry for myself.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I think it's cos of everything I have been through the last couple of months,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17cos I've struggled so much, my body and my brain's just gone,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19"Right, enough!"
0:38:19 > 0:38:22I think I shut away that much,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25everything has just...
0:38:25 > 0:38:27reared its head at the same time.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31We have shed-loads of blueberry muffins. I have 2,000,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34so do not be afraid to give them away.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36'I'm at Foodbank two weeks later,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39'and Charlotte's boyfriend has phoned Gavin,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41'desperate for some spare food.'
0:38:41 > 0:38:45- That's for Charlotte over there. - OK, Charlotte.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49'To find out what's gone wrong, I offer to take it round to them.'
0:38:49 > 0:38:51PHONE RINGS
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- Hello?- Ash, hi, it's David.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59You all right, David?
0:38:59 > 0:39:04Yeah, I'm sitting outside your block with Charlotte's food in my boot.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08- I'll run down.- All right, see you in a sec.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10See you in a sec.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16'Charlotte is seriously distressed and doesn't want to do any filming.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19'It's another week before she agrees to talk to me on camera.'
0:39:19 > 0:39:25You weren't in a very good way when I came last week, were you?
0:39:25 > 0:39:27No, not at all.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30I didn't even want to accept help, to be honest.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32My appetite had got back to normal
0:39:32 > 0:39:34and I started feeling a bit healthier,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36which meant when we were plunged back
0:39:36 > 0:39:40into struggling, I was starving hungry again, like, ridiculously.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Had nothing.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44It's the worst feeling, knowing your belly's rumbling
0:39:44 > 0:39:47and you can't do anything about it and you feel sick.
0:39:47 > 0:39:48It's awful.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51My cupboard has...not a lot.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56'Despite the payments from Social Services, Charlotte's still living below the breadline.'
0:39:58 > 0:40:01So what are you and Ash going to eat tonight?
0:40:01 > 0:40:04Erm...I'm not sure at the moment.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08I don't think I've got any food. I haven't got any food in the freezer...
0:40:08 > 0:40:09at all.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11That's properly empty.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14I don't think I've got anything in there.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16Oh, I have two onions!
0:40:18 > 0:40:19A bit of jam...
0:40:21 > 0:40:25..tiny bit of milk...and that's it.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28'The cause of her renewed hunger appears to stem
0:40:28 > 0:40:31'from a loan taken out some months ago.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33'When her boyfriend had a part-time job,
0:40:33 > 0:40:39'they borrowed £125 from The Money Shop but were unable to repay and the debt has doubled.'
0:40:39 > 0:40:44When he lost his job, disaster struck.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46We had no money to pay them at all.
0:40:46 > 0:40:52That meant they try and take money off you every single day
0:40:52 > 0:40:54until you finally get money in your bank.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Two benefit monies, he's had.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59All of them have gone.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02So they're given completely free access to your bank account?
0:41:02 > 0:41:04They can do what they want, when they want, how they want.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08They can take as much as they want, whenever they want.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12I get for other people they think, "Why do you keep doing this?
0:41:12 > 0:41:15"Why can't you figure out something else?"
0:41:15 > 0:41:17But when you're in this position,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20you exhaust every other option,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23so you're left with no choice.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25What do you do? Do you sit with nothing?
0:41:25 > 0:41:29It don't feel like you live, it feels like you just survive.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34'The Money Shop have since told me they've frozen the debt.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45'Kelly's life's seems to be entering a more settled phase.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48'The father of her youngest child is living with them now
0:41:48 > 0:41:51'and she's beginning to get back on her feet.'
0:41:53 > 0:41:57It was only those few days where everything was a mess.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04Back to normal now. The mortgage, that's the only worry now.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12'With levels of personal debt at an all-time high,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16'many of us live closer to the breadline than we like to think.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19'We're encouraged to spend, not to save...
0:42:19 > 0:42:24'so when things go wrong, it's too easy to be tipped into poverty.'
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Go and lie down. Cess, that means you.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Move, now!
0:42:30 > 0:42:35'Within a matter of days, a volunteer is delivering another food parcel.'
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Thanks very much.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42'Like Charlotte, Kelly is paying a high price for easy money.'
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Why did you need another food parcel?
0:42:45 > 0:42:51The money that went in for Tax Credits got taken up
0:42:51 > 0:42:55with other bills before it hit the account.
0:42:55 > 0:43:00When you say "other bills", what does that mean?
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Just some loans.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07- And these would be high-interest loans?- Yeah.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11I didn't know how much they were taking, but every time
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I went to the get my money over the last two weeks, it was gone.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17I told them I was out of work and could we arrange something?
0:43:17 > 0:43:21- But they still kept taking it. - Right.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Apparently, that's what the agreement says.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25They can take...
0:43:25 > 0:43:28As much as they wanted, whenever they wanted.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33- OK. Even though it leaves you in a position where you can't buy food? - Yes. Yeah.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36What's that on your face?
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Right, can I get you sign this, please?
0:43:38 > 0:43:42'Darren appears to have become a regular at Foodbank...
0:43:42 > 0:43:44HE LAUGHS
0:43:44 > 0:43:49'..and gets his food without the need for a voucher.'
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Lovely. Thank you. Cheers, mate.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Is that everything, Jordan?
0:43:57 > 0:44:00'He arrives early because lately, the fresh food
0:44:00 > 0:44:03'has been running out before the end of the day.'
0:44:03 > 0:44:05I think they knew you were coming
0:44:05 > 0:44:08and thought, "Let's give him all the cakes!"
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Your shelves are almost empty, Tony.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Absolutely, devastated.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17We haven't been this busy since we started a year ago.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19This time last year.
0:44:19 > 0:44:20It's all I've got.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Not today, sorry.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30How do you feel when you run out of food like this?
0:44:30 > 0:44:34When I've run out on a good day and fed everybody, it's great.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39On days like this when you've run out of food and there's people out there that need food,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42it cuts me up to the gut.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44This shouldn't be happening.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47I feel we've got to do something more, but I don't know what.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55'They're having a party of sorts at the Hope Centre.'
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Hello, how are you doing?
0:44:57 > 0:45:03'Since they opened 18 months ago, they've issued 10,000 food parcels,
0:45:03 > 0:45:05'and today the Lord Mayor is coming to mark the occasion.'
0:45:05 > 0:45:09I'm Gavin Kibble, I'm the operations director.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14'The symbolic 10,000th client, chosen to receive the food parcel,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16'is Darren.'
0:45:16 > 0:45:20This is symbolically, cos we've gone over 10,000.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24We are feeding the 10,000th person by Coventry Foodbank
0:45:24 > 0:45:27since it started, 18 months ago.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30So, Lord Mayor, If you'd like to feed Darren...?
0:45:30 > 0:45:32We're not going to force-feed you,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34we're just going to give you some food.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38- I wish I wasn't handing this to you. - So do I, but you are, so thank you very much.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Can you give a round of applause? Well done!
0:45:41 > 0:45:44'But I'm beginning to have my doubts about Darren.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47'He's been doing radio interviews today in the run up to the event
0:45:47 > 0:45:52'and he's giving a completely different account of the cause of his benefit delay.'
0:45:52 > 0:45:54D'you want me to sign the bottom?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56'He's behaving with a sense of entitlement
0:45:56 > 0:45:58'I've not seen in any of the other clients.'
0:45:58 > 0:46:02If you see Gavin, he sends me down, so it's fine.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Could I swap that for something? That's much better.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09What about that watermelon, are you doing anything with that?
0:46:09 > 0:46:11'He's now driving a courier van
0:46:11 > 0:46:15'and despite claiming Job Seeker's Allowance, he's doing delivery jobs,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18'which he's not declaring, so he's committing benefit fraud.'
0:46:18 > 0:46:22Got work Thursday, Friday, just doing some multi-drop driving.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Couple of days' work for money that I wouldn't have, you know?
0:46:25 > 0:46:31- Right.- Ben, can you come here so I can test you on this?
0:46:31 > 0:46:34'On his way to Foodbank on one occasion,
0:46:34 > 0:46:39'he stopped to buy Ben a new scooter.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43'And he's only client I've come across who's stopped on the way home
0:46:43 > 0:46:46'to buy Parma ham from the supermarket.'
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I take it the Parma ham didn't come from the food bank?
0:46:48 > 0:46:52No, but I have had nice salami from there before.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57'And today, he's telling everyone he's about to start a new managerial job.'
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Got any job interviews lined up?
0:46:59 > 0:47:02I've got a job starting on the 23rd, which is really good.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05- Really?! - It's working for Parcelforce.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09Decent money, company vehicle,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12management role, so back into what I'm used to.
0:47:12 > 0:47:18'But Parcelforce tell me they've never heard of him.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23'Gavin, though, remains convinced about Darren's need.'
0:47:23 > 0:47:25He's a very genuine guy.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29It was a pleasure to work with him, you know, and, erm...
0:47:29 > 0:47:31I'm really pleased with the outcome of that one.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36It's a good news story for him and for the food bank, as well.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40We have a set of procedures
0:47:40 > 0:47:43and practices to protect the food bank from abuse.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45If we feel the need is genuine,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47we don't play to the system,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50we play to the need that we see.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54If he'd been really clever, he could have pulled the wool over our eyes.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59But I really don't think that was Darren...
0:47:59 > 0:48:00at all.
0:48:01 > 0:48:06'But it seems that little Darren has told any of us has been true.'
0:48:06 > 0:48:08Milk and bread.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10'The first time I'd filmed him, I'd lent him some money
0:48:10 > 0:48:12'for his son's birthday.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14'A check with the Coventry registrar
0:48:14 > 0:48:20'reveals that it wasn't Ben's birthday at all - that was two months earlier.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24'The Benefits Agency tell me Darren was in full-time employment
0:48:24 > 0:48:27'as a courier until the day before he first arrived at Foodbank...
0:48:27 > 0:48:33'and his benefits were paid a week later, meaning there never was a delay at all.'
0:48:33 > 0:48:36- Is that all yours, mate, yeah? - Yeah, it is.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38They give you all that?
0:48:38 > 0:48:40He's got a large family.
0:48:40 > 0:48:41Ah!
0:48:44 > 0:48:48'A serial debtor with a string of County Court judgments against him,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51'I think Darren targeted the food bank and did very well,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55'because the system was easy to manipulate.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00When I catch up with him, he's started a new job...
0:49:00 > 0:49:05'but it's not as a manager for Parcelforce.'
0:49:05 > 0:49:07What's the job you're doing now?
0:49:07 > 0:49:11It's... driving, delivering to people,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13so it's on the opposite side.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16But, to be honest, it's going to tide me over
0:49:16 > 0:49:20until I'm in a better position to put my suit back on again.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Looking back over what I filmed with you over the weeks,
0:49:23 > 0:49:28one of the most obviously painful things was Ben's birthday.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Was it his birthday that weekend?
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Yep. He got his trampoline, it's down his nanny's, if you go and have a look.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Do you want to go and bounce on it? THEY LAUGH
0:49:37 > 0:49:40- It wasn't actually his birthday that weekend, was it?- What?
0:49:40 > 0:49:43It wasn't Ben's birthday that weekend, was it?
0:49:43 > 0:49:46All right, a couple of weekends before, but it was us
0:49:46 > 0:49:48making it up to him, basically.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50His birthday was way before that.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54It was, but do you know what it was? It was an emotional factor that we had planned a party for him...
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Hang on, Darren, his birthday was in the beginning of May.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59May...but we planned a party for Ben.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02We couldn't afford anything at the time...
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Hang on, you couldn't afford anything in May?!
0:50:04 > 0:50:07- Not really...- But you were in full-time employment in May.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11I was, but we were starting to struggle at the time.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13According to the Benefits Agency,
0:50:13 > 0:50:16you were a van driver on the 5th of May.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18I wasn't.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21According to them, you've been on and off the benefits system for some time.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24I haven't been on and off it for some time.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27- And you've got a history of debting and petty offences.- I have, yeah.
0:50:27 > 0:50:32And I think you heard about food banks and you targeted them
0:50:32 > 0:50:33for a bit of free shopping.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36That wasn't the case, Dave.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39I did get a fair bit of food, yeah...
0:50:39 > 0:50:44You got a month's worth of shopping out of the food bank and that's worth about £500?
0:50:44 > 0:50:47I don't know. From the stuff they gave me, I couldn't tell you, Dave.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49I don't know, mate.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52Me, man. You, woman. Here, we've got two.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54Two people.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56You, one. Who's the other?
0:50:56 > 0:51:01'At the Hope Centre, Gavin is scrutinising people's vouchers.'
0:51:04 > 0:51:10I've got two support workers who have turned up without any form of identification.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14That's fine. I just needed to be sure. Bye!
0:51:14 > 0:51:16You have been accurately described!
0:51:16 > 0:51:21'I was struck by the ease with which Darren had abused the system.'
0:51:21 > 0:51:24I actually think we have, for the voluntary sector,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27a very tight level of control.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30And we need that because we need to honour every single tin
0:51:30 > 0:51:33that's been donated to us by the general public.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38That we have a good idea that the food is going to somebody who actually needs it.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Somebody like Darren, for example...
0:51:40 > 0:51:44you gave him vouchers when he needed them?
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Yes, very specific example of somebody we got to know very well
0:51:48 > 0:51:51and understood the circumstances.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55Do you think you were equipped to assess his need properly?
0:51:55 > 0:51:58- Yes, I think so.- And do you think you assessed his need properly?
0:51:58 > 0:52:00Yes.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03- Darren was a conman.- Serious?
0:52:03 > 0:52:06Darren as a conman. Nothing he told you was true.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09He got you into a position where you were giving him vouchers on demand
0:52:09 > 0:52:11and he took you for everything he could.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13This is being recorded?
0:52:13 > 0:52:14This is being recorded, yeah.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Then I need to reassess what we're doing.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24I'm absolutely shocked by that, cos...
0:52:24 > 0:52:27I felt we were a good judge of people.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29So I'm just...
0:52:29 > 0:52:30HE SIGHS
0:52:37 > 0:52:41The stories of everyone I've met are more complex than they first appear.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45And the system IS too easily abused.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53But food banks have identified, and are trying to meet, a real social need,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55and for every opportunist,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59there are many more in genuine crisis, with nowhere else to turn.
0:52:59 > 0:53:05You all right, Jayden? You going to have a Mr Kipling cake? Yeah.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09'You don't have to be at Foodbank long to meet people
0:53:09 > 0:53:11'like Aaron and Zoe.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14'Aaron's been in and out of low-paid work
0:53:14 > 0:53:17'and the couple are struggling with rent arrears.'
0:53:17 > 0:53:19Is that nice?
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Your weekly food budget is how much?
0:53:23 > 0:53:27About £40, so this is a big help.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30For a family of four, you need at least £90.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32So how have you been managing
0:53:32 > 0:53:34when you've not been going to the food bank?
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Just not eating. We just eat one meal a day,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41whereas the kids get full breakfast, lunch, dinner and pudding.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46I won't eat until about 10 o'clock, so it lasts longer.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50So you wake up and you're not hungry, and you can last the next day and until night time, then.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54We've got to think about the kids before ourselves.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57You don't have a go at that, do you?
0:53:57 > 0:54:00You love your food.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd