Walkden food parcel champions fight stigma against asking for help

Salford Step Into Action have been operating since the year 2000, helping those who have struggled through the years, especially with the cost of living crisis in recent years.

To help the local community, they run a host of events at their base on Manchester Road to give back and allow the community financial breathing room.

They run an affordable community shop, provide food parcels and run cheap ‘food club’ days and nights where people can come, pay £2.50 and get 12 food items and free toiletries.

I spoke to Gemma Fish, who runs the organisation about how the group have tried to help Salford citizens.

Gemma said: “We have an affordable community shop, based in Walkden where we sell items kind of firm, 20p, 50p and a pound. That’s homeware, clothes, furniture, absolutely everything. We also gift a lot of items.

“We help anybody and everybody right across Salford with whatever they might need. From our base here at the hub. We have playgroups. We have our food club, and we provide food parcels as well to families.”

“Well, I’d say there’s up to around 50 people that have come in, you know, every week, it’s just growing and growing and growing, there’s no referral needed there is just open to anybody and everybody that wants to come.

“So we did see (since the cost of living crisis), because we’ve been doing this for so long, especially with the food parcels, we did see a decline in the need for it.

“And we were really hopeful that we were coming to like the end of that sort of thing. Then they put the electricity prices up. And it just literally went absolutely mad.

“People are having to make choices between electricity and food. And that is where we are still at now, there’s no help at all.”

Gemma continued: “We are also introducing some evening classes which will be for people who want to complete their GCSEs who might not have done it. People who want to learn how to write CVS, or whatever it might be.

“We’re not tied to certain things, we can do whatever we need to do. So whatever the need is we will respond to it.”

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