Blimey, I remember a time when we used to wind down for Christmas, but for many in the third sector and those at the front line of delivering support around the cost-of-living crisis, this Christmas and New Year looks like it’s going to be busier than ever.

Things are tough at the moment, with many organisations who provide front line support reporting increased demand – not just increased demand compared with the summer, but larger numbers of people requiring food and well-being support than during peak Covid.

Rainbow Junktion reported breaking their food parcel record for 3 weeks in a row in November and December, and no matter what a huge feat that is, it’s hardly something to celebrate. Hamara and Give a Gift report back equally as high demand, but on top of that the cost of the culturally-appropriate food they supply going up, on average by roughly a third. It’s a similar story across the city.

Here at VAL we had the pleasure of a visit from one of our local ward councillors last week, Ed Carlisle. Surprisingly, we found ourselves reminiscing about Covid times. Yes, the unknown was terrifying, but on reflection there were lots of resources made available to support people: many people were on full furlough with a guaranteed income; the level of neighbourliness, the huge swathes of people super keen to volunteer; the hot summer and visions for a bright new world brought about from the Black Lives Matter movement; blogs and hashtags coming out of our ears.  Without meaning to sound too Pythonesque about it, comparative “luxury”. However terrible covid was, there seemed to be an end in sight, a global goal for vaccination, and a world that stood and clapped for our nurses and ambulance drivers.

One of the themes emerging from conversations with those at the front line that upsets me the most is reports of increasing amounts of desperation shown by those asking for support. Examples of people queuing outside warm spaces waiting for them to open, huge increases of people needing mental health support, people arguing with each other over access to food and fuel support.

One community anchor organisation recently reflected that during Covid there was an opportunity to work with advice agencies to help people maximise their benefits. Referring people to Money Buddies or CAB very often resulted in additional income being secured, but now very often people will have already done that, already got all they are entitled to and still don’t have enough to make ends meet.

Wow, it feels grim at times, but as Ed reminded us, we can’t lose sight of the power of communities. It can be hard to see beyond your own nearest and dearest at times like this, I get that. If you’re struggling to heat your own home and feed your kids, knocking on a neighbour’s door to check in on them falls lower down the order of priorities. It is so important that we recognise and support those small gestures, and there is a crucial role for third sector and faith organisations in providing support, but also we need to stay in the community development box of doing things ‘with’ people and not ‘to’ them.

In the voluntary sector, we see the ongoing positive results of a greater connectedness that Covid brought again coming into play, as one crisises merges into the next, a plethora of crises, a permacrisis. We have seen those networks formed and solidified during Covid again mobilising – well they never stood down really. Networks like Leeds Community Anchor Network (LCAN) and Leeds Food Aid Network are now bringing back into action a trust-based funding model, with Leeds City Council rolled out once again, practiced, and with efficiency.

Alongside food and fuel provision, the vital role that networks such as Leeds Community Anchor Network play is to support small groups, to believe in the wisdom of communities and not to lose sight of the assets and resources that already exist within. I hope that on a grass roots community level too, just as across the third sector, networks and support established over Covid are making us stronger and more resilient to deal with the here and now.

There is certainly a role for the third sector to work with partners to deliver basic services to communities, to offer food where people are hungry and warmth where people are cold, but our role goes much further than that. The value of generous leadership, supporting small, volunteer led organisations on a neighbourhood level, on a street level, can never be underestimated. Asset-based approaches are harder when far fewer tangible assets are available, but are surely even more crucial.

It’s hard to know what to call for in the short term, until we get a fair benefits system, a properly funded third and public sector with a living wage to go with it. Are we not still stood, three years later, with a finger in the same dam?

We need to check in with ourselves as representatives of third sector, check we are not going back into our comfortable silos, remember we are worth more than the sum of our parts, we need to be the neighbour who knocks on to check in, and in doing so the favour is so often returned.

I’ve been visiting a lot of the members of LCAN over the last few weeks, and time and again I’m humbled by those community-led organisations who remain stoic and steadfast in the face of this cost-of-living crisis. People are tired, but they keep going.

There are many contributions that should be celebrated. Within two weeks of putting out a call for third and faith sector partners to open their doors as a warm space, over 150 organisations stepped forward. Zero Waste Leeds more than doubled their target for donations of warm coats. We have seen a marked increase in the numbers of small, newly-formed groups asking for advice and support and numbers of volunteer enquires continue to increase. Leeds continues to come together and show support and solidarity. We are always greater than the sum of our parts. #togtherleeds.

By Claire Graham

VAL Project Worker – Leeds Community Anchor Network (LCAN).

Click here to find out more about LCAN

 

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