Friday, June 14, 2019
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Essential BMW
P2
MOTORING
Cold brings a desperate need By Sue Newman
sue.n@theguardian.co.nz
With the real bite of winter yet to be felt, family support services are running critically low on stocks of warm bedding and warm clothing. Both the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul family stores say they are now regularly fielding requests from people who are cold and cannot afford to pay retail prices for clothes and bedding. And they’re regularly having to turn those people away. “At this time of year we usually have stocks of blankets but now we have virtually nothing, Salvation Army Family Store manager Maria Macdonald (far right) said. The Sallies blanket store is two shelves high and four bays wide. Just a couple of woollen blankets and three or four small fleece throws
are stacked at one end. Anything that’s given is gone before it hits the shelves, Macdonald said. “We’re getting several inquiries a day and people are having to walk away with nothing, we’ve got nothing to give. This has probably been one of the lowest years for years for bedding.” Stocks of sheets and duvets and duvet covers were also almost at zero. The family store is also urgently in need of woollen jerseys and hats and warm jackets. Thermals and warm undergarments were also in high demand. While the store had its regulars, there were many new clients looking for household items and warm clothing, particularly people who were new to Ashburton and who had little experience of cold winters, Macdonald said.
The Salvation Army Foodbank is also low on essentials, with an urgent need for cereals and items that could fill lunch boxes, said its manager Judith Lilley. People who haven’t been clients for some time are coming in for help with food supplies, perhaps on the back of higher power bills, she said. “These are people who’ve been managing quite well but who suddenly need a bit of assistance.” The winter clothing and winter bedding shelves were also virtually bare at St Vincent de Paul, with relieving manager Pauline Marsden saying winter pyjamas for children were in high demand. “We simply can’t keep up with them. We don’t have any stocks as anything we get goes so quickly. We have families coming in and they’re cold,” she said.
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