Representatives from the Trussell Trust gave a presentation to councillors at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council this week, to outline the extent to which the cost of living crisis is affecting Moorlanders.

Lindsey Stockton, project manager at Leek and District Foodbank, gave four case studies of people who use the charity's food bank.

She said: "We recognise that not everyone is genuine, but more and more people are being sucked down to a level where they just can't manage financially.

"Whilst being wary of anyone trying to abuse the system, our job is not to judge but to help with food and to signpost our clients to agencies who can offer them some sort of financial assistance."

She added: "More and more, clients are being told that they are receiving all that they are entitled to and we then become a vital part of their survival.

"All we can do is put a sticking plaster on a gaping wound – but it's not enough any more and things are only going to get worse."

She outlined four case studies from Leek and surrounding areas of people who'd visited the local food bank.

A family of four

The first case study was that of a family of four – mum, dad and two teenage boys – where the mother works in a nursery and the father was unable to work due to enduring mental health conditions.

When costs started to rise, the family were unable to get by on their combination of low wages and benefits payments and visited the food bank for help.

The mother was signposted to a hardship helpline, aimed at helping people address underlying issues relating to their finances – but turned this down because her company already had its own financial advise.

She visited the food bank every 2-3 weeks.

She was then made redundant at the end of October as the company she worked for went into administration.

She didn't receive any payment for her last month of work and is now facing a potential six-week delay for redundancy pay.

She's been given a food parcel as well as supermarket vouchers to enable her to stock up her freezer.

She's also now speaking to Citizen's Advice who are trying to help her claim the wages she's owed along with her redundancy pay.

The food bank is continuing to support her and her family with food.

A single mum with a young son

The second case study outlined the plight of a single mother from Leek, who works full-time in a care home in Macclesfield for autistic adults with challenging behaviour.

She relies on her car to get to work, and was faced with a £2,000 repair bill after it broke down – but had no way of paying the bill.

She obtained a food voucher from the food bank, but despite this she still didn't have the means to get her car repaired.

Staff at the food bank made a delivery to her as she couldn't go down during working hours.

Eventually she resorted to taking out a high-interest loan to sort out the issue with her car.

This meant she had to give up her rented accommodation and her and her son had to move into a friend's house where she sleeps on a sofa.

A 78-year-old man

The trust also highlighted the dilemmas facing a 78-year-old man who lives alone in a rented flat.

His income came from his state pension, pension credits and housing benefit – but he decided to return to work so he could increase his income to cope with the rising cost of living.

His bosses referred him to the food bank – and they say their HR department has become more like a welfare department.

The man lost both his pension credit and his housing benefit when he started working, and has found himself worse off than he was before he decided to return to employment.

He works a 40-hour week plus a regular 12-hour overtime shift on a Sunday to boost his income.

The food bank referred him to the Carr Trust which offers pensioners in need living in Leek with a payment of £40 per month – but he was not eligible for this as he is currently working.

He's now being supported by citizens Advice and the food bank continues to help him with food.

A single mum with three young boys

The final case study revealed the challenges facing a single mum from Leek, whose marriage broke down and resulted in a worrying wait to find out what her benefits payments would be.

Her youngest son is five years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was three.

The difficulties of living with a child with a chronic illness led to the breakdown of her marriage.

The end of her marriage meant DWP reassessed her benefits, and she was referred to the food bank by her son's school.

They asked the food bank to spend time with the woman – who was in a desperate state because she was terrified her benefits might be reduced.

A senior family support worker at the food bank provided supermarket vouchers and arranged an appointment with Citizens Advice.

She was given a favourable assessment by DWP, and is now receiving support until her revised benefits arrangements kick in.