Community hub asks people to donate £400 energy grant

The Hope Centre offers heavily-discounted food and essentials and wants to help with energy costs

A community hub has set up a scheme to allow people to donate part of their £400 energy support payment to families who are "in dire need".

The Hope Centre in Partington, which also has a food bank and savings union, matches donors with local residents who are "struggling" with energy costs.

Manager Ruth Lancey said things were getting "worse and worse" every month.

Mother-of-three Sam, who uses the centre, said the cost of living was "a problem".

"I've never had to check money so much in all of my life," she said, "I have to come here. I come here every week."

'Absolute crisis'

The centre in Trafford, which offers heavily-discounted food and essentials, wanted to also try and help people with their energy bills.

Ms Lancey said that while a lot of families were in need of the £400 energy discount given to all UK households, there were people "that don't need it" and the centre was helping direct that money to those who do.

She said people were "budgeting so tightly, monitoring their energy so carefully", but there was still not enough money coming in.

"We have families coming in to use the food bank where both partners are working. It's an absolute crisis," she added.

The Hope Centre's Ruth Lancey says things are getting worse every month with working families struggling

Ms Lancey said it was getting "worse and worse" every month, adding: "Without that extra bit of help that we offer they just wouldn't quite get through.

"We match up any donors with families who are in dire need"

Sam, whose children are all under 10, said visiting the centre "brightens her day a little bit" but said she had put Christmas "to the back of her mind".

"I've got two birthdays coming up before that. If I thought about that, everyday I'd be an emotional wreck."

She said her son had only chosen three items for his Christmas wish-list because he had said "all the other toys are going to be very expensive".

"That's not what a nine-year-old should be thinking about," she said.