From businesswoman to foodbankHow Covid-19 saw a woman with her own business needing food parcels.

'Overnight my business was wiped out'

You would not expect a woman with her own business to call a charity for food parcels yet this is exactly what 45-year-old mother, Francesca, found herself doing in the Covid-19 emergency.

Following her child’s serious illness with ME, she had health issues herself and the family was evicted.

‘We were extremely lucky to receive accommodation with a housing association,’ says Francesca, ‘However the long-term effects of clinical depression left me unable to run my private teaching practice. Then came Coronavirus, and overnight my business was wiped out and I was not eligible for any of the government schemes for loss of income.’

Francesca and her family applied to receive food parcels from a local Oasis Hub.  ‘It helped me enormously because I only had to buy dairy, eggs and bits and bobs. I have had fun using foods I would never buy. It was humbling to meet such amazing volunteers who delivered in all weathers.’

As a result of Covid-19 wiping out her business, Francesca has applied to do a PGCE and train to teach music at secondary level.

‘I have been the recipient of such kindness and generosity from Oasis, I would love to find a way to give back by volunteering myself’, she says.