AN IRISH nun is urging the Government to adopt new measures to help low-income families in Britain, for whom hunger remains a desperate concern.
With 13million people living below the poverty line in Britain, and food banks being used to feed over a million people over the last year, of which 396,997 were children, there are continued pleas nationwide for emergency support.
Sister Rita Lee, a Cork native, runs a drop-in centre and food bank for the most vulnerable people in one of Manchester’s poorest regions, Collyhurst, and has served the community there for over 50 years.
Based at St Malachy’s Primary School in Eggington Street, the Lalley Centre, supported by Irish Community Care in Manchester, offers debt, welfare, and food poverty support to those in need.
According to British hunger charity The Trussell Trust, there is often a significant rise in numbers of people needing food banks in winter, as people on low incomes face choices between eating and heating.
Last December referrals to food banks were 53 per cent higher than the average across other months, with the charity providing 130,000 three-day food supplies to people in crisis in just one month.
Sister Rita has led the Lalley Centre since 2007, and it is this week the focus of a new five-part BBC series, Sister Rita to the Rescue, which will aim to highlight the plight of young families and those on low salaries who are affected by Government cuts and sanctions.
Speaking to The Irish Post, she said: “I’m not a politician, but I know that more definitely needs to be done. I want social enterprise, either a supermarket or things built here to build jobs. It’ll lift them out of the poverty, creating businesses will also provide jobs for people.”
With plentiful resources and services on offer at the centre, Sister Rita explained that every individual seeking their help is assessed based on their benefit and employment documents when the food bank is open every Wednesday and Thursday.
The former social worker believes that in the current economic climate, the key factor to improving the lives of helpless families in Collyhurst is for the Government to create more jobs in the area.
“I’m supported by a team of volunteers, and together we’re a mighty force, we do all that we can for the people. The reason people come to the food bank is because they have concerns and problems to begin with,” she said.
“We help them to sort their problems out and make sure that they have enough money coming in to keep the children fed.”
Sister Rita Lee in one of Manchester's most deprived areas, CollyhurstSister Rita recently met with Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, in London to request that benefits of the centre’s regulars do not continue to get cut.
“He was very receptive, and he’s trialling a scheme on a Thursday after our job club,” she said. “We have senior staff from Job Centre plus, so if you’re sanctioned, they can unsanction you. If that works, he’s going to trial it elsewhere.”
Sister Rita left her hometown in Ireland at the age of 17 for Britain where she joined the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a convent originally started in her home county by Nano Nagle in 1775.
The nun first arrived in Collyhurst in 1961, and returned to the area nine years ago where she took up her role at The Lally Centre.
During her 50 years serving the community, she has faced many challenges, the biggest of which she describes as “apathy.”
“That’s definitely the toughest challenge,” she added. “The world is so thick there, you’re at it and you don’t seem to get anywhere.
“We’ll always have the poor, Jesus told us that, in preparation for us to know we’ll never have utopia here on earth. So, we need to be realistic. Debt, relationship problems, illness, lack of money, lack of employment will always be the same problems turning over generation to generation.”
But, in her opinion, the community atmosphere at the centre is one of its greatest assets.
“Community is so thin on the ground today, that when I hear laughter and camaraderie just outside of my window, it’s music to my ears,” she said.
After serving the vulnerable for five decades, Sister Rita said that it’s her faith that drives her to continue her work.
She hopes that the BBC series will be a chance for viewers to see what the church does for the poor and to break down religious barriers.
“It’s important to see what the church does for the community today, to show what they do for the people,” she said. “There is some detachment about the established church as people probably don’t know what the church does today.
“It’s an opportunity to show how necessary it is and also the lifestyle of a religious sister. It shows how we can all work together to achieve the greater good.”
Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Paul Murphy praised Sister Rita for the work that she does in helping those in need, but he suspects that with Government cuts in cities in northern England such as Manchester, the social problems are set to worsen.
Speaking to The Irish Post he said: “The work she does is essential, what you see is her standing up for people, people trust her. I suspect though that the problems are to get worse, it’s particularly worrying with the amendments to housing benefits.
“With that and the numerous health problems that people here are experiencing, it’s a major concern. Sister Rita plays a crucial role though in advising people to get flu jabs amongst other things.”
Whilst this year was a momentous one for Sister Rita as she marked her golden jubilee, she is confident that 2016 will be an important year for the centre.
The Lalley Centre has secured a large plot of land from Manchester City Council that will be cultivated and used to g row fruit and vegetables for the food bank, in co-ordination with environmental regeneration charity, Groundwork.
She is hopeful that this could lead to the launch of a series of social enterprises that could combat the city’s poverty problems.
