A Bolton homelessness community group has seen a record number of people going to their street kitchens to access support since the start of the cost of living crisis.
Homeless Aid UK said things are only going to get "worse" before they get better as they see around 100 people access their soup kitchens daily, which has risen from 15 people before the crisis.
The group's co-founder Billa Ahmed said he is concerned that he will run out of donations as the crisis worsens.
He said: “At Homeless Aid we have had to start another street kitchen because of the cost of living crisis and people not being able to afford the basics and their utilities a lot more people are now accessing our food banks.
“They are accessing our soup kitchens and we are hitting record numbers, around 100 people are now coming over to our kitchens.
“They are people that are homeless and in temporary accommodation and a lot of them are people that are struggling to pay their bills.
“So, we have our soup kitchens and we have started an extra one on Thursday, so we have them now five times a week.
“The demographics of the people who are coming has totally changed.
“We have got people coming employed, pensioners, elderly, families and the number is increasing a lot more, the demand is really high.
“Even at Homeless Aid, we are a community group, so we don’t get government funding, we are having to find a new way and look for people that can help and for the community to donate to Homeless Aid, so we can pass those on to the people who are most vulnerable.
“On Sunday we saw bang on 100 people come to our soup kitchen in the town centre and when we started the numbers were very low.
“We have seen a massive increase of the number of people that are using our services across the board.
“Here in Bolton, it is just crazy the amount of people that are needing help.
“A lot of people are telling us that they have never had to ask for help and they feel ashamed to ask.”
Billa said if his community group runs out of donations it will really impact them and service users.
He said: “This is one of the concerns that runs around my head all the time.
“We have got some amazing donators and an amazing team and we haven’t had to ask anyone as of yet for donations on social media as we all work collaboratively within the team.
“But it is one of my main concerns.
“I feel as it gets worse and worse it is going to put a lot of strain on us.
“When we started there was only around 15/20 people turning up and now there are well over 70, 80, 90 and even 100 people who are using our soup kitchen.
“My concern is if it gets a lot worse than it is now, how are we going to cope?
“Where will the food come from and stuff like that, but we just keep at it.
“The numbers keep growing and it is just going to get far worse and what is going to happen next winter?
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and it shows with the number of people from where we started to where we are now.
“We are even hearing stories of parents going without food so they can feed their children and people calling us in tears because they are struggling.
“Anyone is allowed to attend our soup kitchens, don’t feel ashamed, don’t feel embarrassed because it can happen to anyone.
“You are all welcome, there is no questions asked, just turn up and we can offer support and some good food.
“At the soup kitchen we have Bolton Council there, the housing team, we have got the homeless nurses team doing assessments, the rough sleeper’s team are there, and we are all working together as one group trying to do what we can to help as many people as possible.”
Homeless Aid UK soup kitchens are open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the town centre.
If you need support from Homeless Aid UK, call 0800 124 4641 or to donate contact info@homelessaid.co.uk.
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno
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