COST OF LIVING CRISIS: Inverness Foodstuff provides food, friendship and a lifeline at Ness Bank Church amid rising energy costs and inflation
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As soon as the doors open at Inverness Foodstuff, the lunchtime diners begin to drift in.
A filling potato and leek soup, a main course of roasted Mediterranean vegetables under cheesy crumble top served with vegetables followed by a choice of cakes are on today’s menu.
The community-run café, based in Ness Bank Church, is a lifeline and sanctuary for those facing significant challenges including financial hardship and homelessness, and for vulnerable and marginalised people.
Three days a week, it provides a three-course freshly-cooked vegetarian meal but also acts as a hub where people can collect leftover food supplies and access a range of services, or even get a haircut.
It is becoming even more vital as the cost-of-living crisis deepens fuelled by rising energy costs, rising inflation and interest rates.
With energy prices set to increase from October, the outlook among the participants – as everyone is called – varies.
Some, already struggling on stretched budgets, worry about how they will make ends meet and discuss possible options including not putting on the heating until absolutely necessary, giving up their mobile phone, or the possibility of taking up swimming to access pool showers.
One woman uses mediation to cope with the daily challenges.
Another said: “It is really scary. We cannot go on like this.”
For others, there is a sense of bewilderment and helplessness or resigned acceptance while one man, a rough sleeper, shrugs and feels he cannot really comment, given his situation.
Pam Urquhart, operations manager, said participants call in at the project for a variety of reasons.
“It can be food poverty,” she said. “People come because they are lonely, or they might not have access to cooking facilities if they live in a house of multiple occupation.”
Everyone is warmly welcomed and treated with respect.
“We are definitely busy,” she said. “Our meal numbers are going up month by month.
“The fact is people are struggling now and it is about to get a lot worse.
“Most of our participants tend to be single people and we probably have more male than female participants.
“But we are seeing more families and that is worrying.
Some families last week didn’t get their school grants and had no money to buy food so they brought the children here.
“It is horrendous. The government has to step in and do something.”
She said people faced the choice between heating or eating and felt there was a possibility of fatalities as the situation worsened.
“I am particularly concerned about people who will not come forward – it is the people who don’t know about us or are too embarrassed to ask for help,” she said.
One lady, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed the project is vital.
“If I didn’t come here, I would not be able to afford to eat,” she said.
Having previously been self-employed in another part of the country, her circumstances changed during the Covid pandemic and she found herself homeless for six months as she tried to keep the business afloat.
“I was not offered anything – I was not seen as vulnerable,” she said.
“I was sofa surfing and put up notices on Facebook. It was not a great way of living.”
She moved to Inverness, where she has connections, and is now in sheltered housing while Universal Credit services her “huge bills”. She has no idea how she will deal with further energy price rises but tries to remain positive.
“At the moment I come here so I don’t have to use the oven,” she said. “I try to look at it as an education.
“Although I am in a very compromised situation at the moment, that will not always be the case.”
She added: “I take one day at a time and continue to make the best choices I can given the circumstances I am in and that things I am dealing with are outside my control – and I do a bit of meditating.”
Retired support worker Jim (67) calls in at Inverness Foodstuff for a meal and company as part of his regular routine.
He lives on a state pension and also claims pension credits – and urges other older people to check their entitlements.
Asked how he will cope with rising energy costs, he replied: “I think I will be OK.
“I am old fashioned. I grew up with a coal fire, so only one room was heated.”
But he acknowledged he is careful about putting on the central heating and also has a smart meter so closely monitors energy usage.
“I think a lot of people will struggle,” he reflected.
“I think the government should be a bit more generous.”
