It is difficult to feed yourself, clothe yourself, stay in contact with your friends and family, and socialise while living only on an asylum support allowance Section 95 NASS.
Below are ideas on how you can try and make the Section 95 NASS allowance last the week?
Each Monday afternoon 12pm to 4pm, at The Ask Club – Skelmersdale Ecumenical Centre, you can receive some free food to take home.
Buying food cheaply.
The cheapest food shops include Lidl, Aldi, Farmfoods, and Home Bargains.
Look out for discount voucher leaflets, and discounts on phone apps.
Food must be sold before the “sell by date”. After this date, the food is still safe. Eat food before the “use by date”.
Many food shops add a yellow sticker to the packet, with a reduced price when the product needs to be sold quickly.
Please remember that you are not alone, many hundreds of thousands of people in the UK live in “food poverty”.
Getting free food from a food bank
You are entitled to use the local “food banks”. There are two types of food banks. The first requires a voucher, the second does not require a voucher.
Unfortunately, many poor British people do not know how to cook using basic ingredients. Much of the food available from the foodbank is ready made and put in tins and packets. The food is often for a British diet.
However, you can request a vegetarian or halal food bag.
I have made short videos introducing examples of types of food that you might receive from a foodbank.
Watch the video play list “Foreign foods – trying new foods in the UK“
Rice, beans, peas, will often be pre-cooked in a tin or packet. Canned vegetables are a good supplement when fresh vegetables are not available. Frozen vegetables are as nutritious as many fresh vegetables you can buy.
Canned fruit is a very good way of getting good vitamins. Canned fruit is very cheap and will not rot like fresh fruit.
Voucher foodbanks in Skelmersdale
There are three voucher food banks in Skelmersdale.
- Trinity Methodist Church, near Sandy Lane
- Skelmersdale Food Bank, at the Skelmersdale Ecumenical Centre
- Oak House, near Tanhouse
Anyone who needs to use a food bank must first request a voucher. Please contact me if you want a voucher. You can only use a voucher food bank
No voucher food banks in Skelmersdale
- Evermoor Hub, Ennerdale, Digmoor, WN8 9HR. Telephone: 01695 727483
Finding cheap clothes
British people love to shop and find bargains. The nearby towns of Kirkby and Ormksirk have many “charity shops”.
Examples.
Charity shops collect donations from people who give away their clothes, footwear, furniture and kitchenware to be sold by a charity. The money raised is used by charities to support their good causes, rather than make profits for shareholders.
You can find good quality, used, cheap items in charity shops.
The Ask Club
Each Monday, The Ask Club – Skelmersdale Ecumenical Centre will make available free food and used clothes for you to take home.