A local pub in Salford put on a gig to raise money for a local food bank.
On Saturday 9 March The Old Pint Pot hosted a pop-up party with live music which collected donations to help the Manchester South Central Food Bank.
Daniel Leach, co-founder of the event organiser Rec, discussed what it means bringing in money for those with minimal food.
Daniel said: “I saw it first hand, I worked in a coffee shop in Hulme and above were council houses. People came in who didn’t have enough to buy food or drink.
“To be able to give back to that community is a good feeling.”
The pop-up event, the first to be organised by Rec, sold all its 175 tickets, along with an extra 30 on the door.
The money will go towards the continuation of crisis food support and also awareness of the foodbank.
The Trussell Trust is a charity that works to end the need for food banks in the United Kingdom supporting a nationwide network of food banks providing emergency food.
The usage of Trussel Trust foodbanks has more than doubled from 1,354,362 in 2017/18 to 2,986,203 in 2022/23.
With the cost-of-living crisis creating rising prices in shops among other factors, people are having to spend more on their groceries than they did two years ago.
The ONS announced in February that the price of food and non-alcoholic drinks overall went up by approximately 25% in the two years up to January 2024.
Graphics and sound engineer Cameron Utley was in control of the visuals for the one-night takeover and discussed the power of setting up these events.
He said: “The first point is to raise money to feed people on the streets and to support the food bank. But also to get people partying for a good reason.
“It’s a dream to do this.”
Within Greater Manchester there are currently over 270 food providers all tackling the issue of making sure locals have food to eat.
Helena Canavan, who works at the Manchester South Central Foodbank, said: “Since the cost of living crisis, there has been a huge increase in demand across the UK and it’s no different here in Manchester.
“As staff there is incredible pressure to make sure we have enough food on the shelves. Unfortunately people can’t afford to donate as much food as we require so we have to spend our charity’s money and resources.”
Rec is looking to put on similar events but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Pictures: Ollie Dennett
