​For more than a decade, West Northumberland Food Bank has been responding to the realities of poverty in our community — and contributing to the wider conversation about how it should be addressed.

​When our CEO, Sam Gilchrist, was awarded The Honorary Steward and Bailiff of Hexham by Hexham Town Council at this year’s Mayor’s Celebration of Volunteering & Community Leadership, she spoke about the community that makes this work possible. 

For the households we support across West Northumberland, winter pressure does not peak at Christmas, it often builds steadily and becomes hardest in January and February. These are the coldest months of the year. Energy bills have already been running high for weeks. Food budgets have been stretched by Christmas costs. Any small financial buffer people may have had is usually gone.

A busy launch day at Waitrose marked the start of our Christmas Food and Gift Drive, and showed how local businesses and shoppers come together when winter pressures rise.

Across West Northumberland, more people are being pushed into hardship as living costs continue to outpace incomes. Behind each call to our helpline is fear, exhaustion, and the constant question: “What else can I cut back on?”

Food insecurity can happen to anyone. It is not always the result of long-term poverty or unemployment. Sometimes a sudden crisis such as an accident, an illness, or an unexpected change in circumstances can leave someone without reliable access to food. This is what happened to one of our trustees, Kate Haddow. For nearly ten years she worked, volunteered, researched and published work on food aid in the UK, but she never imagined she would experience food insecurity herself.

We often hear well-meaning advice about budgeting — how careful planning can help people get by, even on low incomes. But what happens when there’s simply nothing left to budget?

​When we talk about poverty in the UK, certain phrases roll off the tongue: the cost-of-living crisis, choosing between heating and eating, food insecurity. These terms have become so familiar, they’ve lost their meaning. But behind the language is a much harsher reality. The truth we see every day at West Northumberland Food Bank goes much deeper — and it's something we’ve tried to capture by speaking to a snapshot of the people we support, through our recent “tell us what you think” survey. 

When Cathy, one of our dedicated helpline volunteers, met 89-year-old Stella Charlton in Tesco, she discovered a remarkable story of quiet generosity. Stella shared that she has donated a tin of spaghetti every single week since our food bank opened – that’s over 600 tins in 12 years.

When someone experiencing poverty is overwhelmed, unheard, or unsure where to turn, what they need isn’t quick fixes or one-size-fits-all answers. They need someone to walk alongside them, listen without judgement, and take the time to understand what’s really going on. That’s exactly what our Outreach Pilot — funded in part by The National Lottery Community Fund — was designed to do.