Cost of living has forced people from 'all walks of life' through our doors, says Cork Penny Dinners

Staff and volunteers at Cork Penny Dinners, marking the charity’s first year in its James Street facility supporting families, the elderly and vulnerable members of the community throughout Cork. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO

An organisation in Cork is feeding 500 people every day, as the cost of living and housing crises is affecting people from “all walks of life”.

That’s according to Catriona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners, who said numbers are continuously rising.

“The numbers will always increase because the cost of living has gone out of control for an awful lot of people now. They can't manage, they can't pay their bills and buy food at the same time...the numbers will grow until the cost of living comes down to an affordable living for everybody,” she told Cork’s 96FM.

Every day, Ms Twomey sees a lot of new faces walking through the doors of the organisation located on Little Hanover Street, as people are heading into a “difficult” new year.

“We all know what the issues are. We need to work on the solutions. We can see it with the shops and all the industries around us, all the small businesses closing down or struggling. It’s affecting everybody right across the board,” she said.

According to Ms Twomey, people from all walks of life are impacted.

Caitriona Twomey: 'We can’t turn anybody away because our ethos here is no questions asked, no judgments made. Anybody coming here is hungry.' File picture: Dan Linehan

“Years ago, it was just men who were fond of the drink, or might have spent their money gambling. They knew they wouldn’t get a meal at home, or they might have been thrown out of home for a couple of days, and they would come to Penny Dinners.

“Then women started to come, then children started to come, and now it’s everybody.” 

Not only do people visit Penny Dinners for a meal, they are also looking for a space where they can interact with others.

“It’s something for them to do for the day, so there’s a lot of loneliness and isolation for a lot of people that are on their own.

“But we also have a lot of people that come here from other countries, and they’re working, and their wages are being spent entirely on their accommodation, and for them that’s very, very, very difficult.

“We can’t turn anybody away because our ethos here is no questions asked, no judgments made. Anybody coming here is hungry.”

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, the staff of the River Lee Hotel will prepare food and serve it in Penny Dinners.

“Christmas is a time of giving, and what we should be thinking of is that this is our way of giving. If anybody needs a dinner delivered to them on Christmas Day, if a family needs a dinner delivered to them on Christmas Day, they just contact Penny Dinners.

“We've been working with somebody there recently whose cooker is just not working, and the landlord won’t give her another one. And that’s it, she has no way of cooking the dinner for her children on Christmas Day. 

"She has no way of having a normal Christmas Day. So for whatever reason, if the person can’t have a Christmas dinner, we’re there to fill that gap."