Posts in: Hunger Tales
25 May 22
I’m hungry a lot of the time
Lela (32) suffers with health issues which began suddenly when she was a teenager. She and her 11 year old daughter have lived in a one bedroom flat since December after Camden rehoused them following problems with a neighbour. Lela says she accepted the one bedroom flat as she was desperate although she now has […]
25 May 22
A long way from Ukraine to the UK
Nina (44) and Symon (47) arrived from Ukraine in March with their twin boys aged 13 years and their youngest son who is 11. Nina can speak some English. The family has been here a few weeks when she and Symon visit the foodbank but you can still see fear and shock in her eyes. […]
21 Mar 22
A long journey back from homelessness
Life became a lot more complicated for Malcolm (58) when he was arrested around six years ago and found himself on remand. He was in prison for three and a half months until the authorities realised he wasn’t involved in the case and the court released him. However, in that time he lost his rented […]
6 Jan 22
The pandemic has hit people in all sorts of ways …
“I want to be a fully functioning person in society,” Camille says. “I never want to look back on my life and think I should have done that.” Camille has certainly achieved a lot in her 39 years – particularly taking into account that she was knocked over by a car when she was 13. […]
6 Jan 22
Living on £1 a day – eat for less to raise more
For five days in July, 16 year old Annie Swimer and Ethan Colton and 4 of their friends spent £1 a day on their food to help raise money and awareness for Muswell Hill Food Bank, raising more than £2,000! Annie said “After weeks of debating how we could help raise the most money for […]
6 Jan 22
Some of our clients find themselves with no food at all …
Gwen Williams is the sort of person who sets out to solve a problem when she sees one. She has been a housing officer at St Ignatius, a charity which provides accommodation and support to single vulnerable adults in Haringey, since 2020. Gwen’s role is to look after the properties which provide temporary homes for […]
6 Oct 21
Caught in no man’s land
John (52) had just started a new job at a courier company when the pandemic hit. He had worked in his previous job for 20 years organising courier deliveries. The firm was badly hit by the pandemic, he explains, so his new employer decided to keep on the person he was replacing and John found […]
7 May 21
Community spirit alive and well
When Clare first heard about Muswell Hill Foodbank towards the end of 2017, she had a feeling that many of her neighbours on Victoria Road N22 would want to join with her in offering it support. So she emailed and dropped notes through letterboxes and collected a substantial donation of food and toiletries in the […]
7 May 21
It’s so difficult when you don’t own your own home
Last summer Avril found herself without a kitchen and having to cook in her back garden. Her flat was being renovated after she took her social housing provider to court. A further dispute meant she had to use credit to buy a kitchen and wait for the money to be reimbursed. This was when she […]
23 Feb 21
“TB destroyed my life”
Doris (83) arrived in the UK in 1960 as a young qualified nurse from British Guiana, now Guyana. She went straight to work in a mental hospital in Surrey. “They needed nurses,” she said. While working at the hospital she contracted TB, a disease which has had long term health effects. As a result of […]