Withernsea in East Yorkshire is a popular seaside resort in the summer as families flock to the sandy beaches for the school holidays.
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But outside of the holidays, locals have branded their village a “ghost town”, ravaged by a cost of living crisis that has left hundreds dependent on emergency food parcels.
It’s seen hundreds more households signed up to a community scheme to pick up supermarket food at knock-down prices.
Charity bosses say the town is now so poor some kids have “no shoes” and warn how parents have turned to predatory loan sharks to survive.
The heartbreaking conditions have seen even teachers and nurses turn up to the town’s food bank desperate for food to feed their families.
A toy bank has even been opened, just so kids living in poverty have a birthday present to open.
Pensioner Ray Morley, 75, has lived in Withernsea for 45 years and spoke of how the ailing high street – with three vape shops and four charity shops nestled among discount stores – was suffering.
Mr Morley said: “People haven’t got the money left to spend once they’ve paid the bills.
“When the caravaners and holidaymakers aren’t here, it’s just like a ghost town.
“Hopefully when spring arrives, they’ll come back and inject a bit of life into the place.”
BATTLE TO SURVIVE
At the Shores Community Pantry, two in three of the town’s 6,500 residents have signed up to access cheap food.
Manager Jayne Nendick, 54, said: “To enable a community to thrive, first we need to ensure it survives.
“At the moment we are seeing people in dire straits. We need to help them stand back up again.
“We don’t want to see the town collapse and roll into the gutter. We’re desperately trying to help people with the limited resources that we have.”
The pantry obtains discount food from supermarkets and sells on the goods for a fraction of the price, including 50p for a supermarket-sized bag of fruit or veg, and 50p for a 250g pack of turkey mince.
The store buys stock from FareShare, which it then sells at discounted prices to people on benefits and low incomes.
Marie Bone, 40, picked up an £8 M&S chicken meal for just £3, as well as pies for less than a quid.
She said: “They get deliveries of food twice a week and as soon as it goes in to the shop, it goes out again.
“It’s probably the busiest shop on the high street because no-one’s got any money to pay supermarket prices.”
Where to find help if you’re struggling financially
The Healthy Start scheme offers out prepaid food cards to women who are more than 10 weeks pregnant or parents who have children under four.
You typically must also be on certain benefits, such as Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Child Tax Credit.
Some supermarkets which are part of the scheme include Tesco, Iceland and Aldi.
Also, Sainsbury’s is offering at extra £2 to customers who shop with a Healthy Start card.
The Household Support Fund sees thousands of households can get £60 of free supermarket vouchers to spend on food and essentials.
The help will be dished out under a new round of £421million funding given by the government to the Household Support Fund.
To be eligible, you must be a care leaver or have a child who receives free school meals.
What you can get depends on your personal situation and also who your local council is.
Welfare assistance
Most local councils run their own welfare assistance schemes for households on low incomes or who are dealing with a crisis.
Grants can sometimes be worth up to £1,000.
Marie continued: “I’ve spent a tenner and got about £30 worth of food. That will last me for two weeks.
“It’s a lifesaver. There’s not much around here and it’s so hard to get a job.”
The town – home to the 19th century Pier Towers – will see a campaign launched this year to stop people turning to loan sharks.
The council fear hundreds could turn to illegal lenders to pay soaring bills.
‘DESPERATION’
Mrs Nendick said her charity had handed out 286 food bank parcels in December, and expected record-breaking figures in January.
She said: “I’ve been here for 18 years and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it. During Covid I thought it was bad, but that’s nothing compared to right now.
“The problems are just escalating on a daily basis and you wonder where it will all end up.
“It’s not what I would call the usual suspects who are struggling – it’s the working poor.
“We’re seeing people who work in education, in health, where their income doesn’t match their expenditure.
“They’ve cut back on absolutely everything and still there is a deficit. We are seeing desperation every day.”
“They’ve cut back on absolutely everything and still there is a deficit. We are seeing desperation every day.”Jayne Nendick, 54,
Brent Denning, 65, and his wife Sue, 61, run giftware shop Inspired on Withernsea’s high street.
They told how they open seven days a week just so passers-by do not think their store is among the many to have shut down.
Sue said: “We open on Sundays just so people know that we’re open. We don’t take much money at all but we don’t want them to think we’ve closed.
“Fortunately we can get by because people know us and we’ve been here for a few years. But a lot of other shops have been like revolving doors. They keep opening up and closing down.”
Brent added: “People in the community are really struggling to get by.
“All their money is going on their heating and there’s nothing left to spend. It’s the same everywhere – it’s not just Withernsea. Everyone is in the same boat.”
At personalised gist store Precious Prints, Ellen Cleworth, 45, accused the council of turning its back on the high street.
She revealed she has to clear dog fouling from outside her shop “once a week” and rarely sees street cleaners.
Ellen said: “They don’t seem to care. It’s a shame that we don’t get the backing that we deserve.”
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