Cost of living: The Peterborough mosque-run food hub at Ramadan

Since opening a nutrient hub astatine his mosque past October, Rizwan Rahemtulla has endured sleepless nights.

Despite his agelong engagement successful the Peterborough community, Rizwan has been shocked by the standard of request that surrounds him.

Most concerning of all, helium says, are those who "for immoderate reason, don't enactment their hands up".

"For me, that's the worrying part," says Rizwan, who is president of the Husaini Islamic Centre.

The hub - a walk-in pantry lined with tins and jars successful the mosque's car parkland - opens connected Thursday and Friday evenings.

At the beginning, it supported astir 5 households.

Now, the hub's squad of drivers delivers to 35 locations each week.

Rizwan says a 5th of the families supported travel from wrong the mosque's ain community.

The hub is 1 of astir 20 akin schemes funded by Conservative-run Peterborough City Council utilizing wealth from the government's £842m Household Support Fund.

Rizwan's telephone rings. A mother-of-three is asking whether the hub is unfastened this evening.

"Of course, sister," helium tells her.

She has not been earlier and turns retired to beryllium a attraction worker, precocious arrived successful the UK from Nigeria.

"It's not similar I don't person thing - I person rice," she says, clutching a container filled with staples similar effect cordial, cornflakes and breadstuff rolls. "But this is thing that volition assistance retired - it's a immense help."

This is her archetypal Ramadan extracurricular of Nigeria.

"We're decidedly going to bash thing for Eid," Rizwan tells her. "I'm going to bid immoderate cakes for the children and we'll chopped the barroom and we'll devour it unneurotic and celebrate."

Inside the mosque, the telephone to prayer, gathering worshippers and boys handing retired khajoor - dates: the accepted mode to interruption the fast.

"When it gets to this clip wherever you cognize you've lone got 15 minutes earlier you interruption your fast," says Rizwan, 54, "you consciousness the hunger and symptom and truthful it teaches america a lesson.

"At slightest this evening, I'll beryllium having a meal. At slightest this morning, I had a breakfast.

"There volition beryllium radical retired determination who wouldn't adjacent person had that and, if they did, it would astir apt beryllium conscionable beryllium 1 tiny portion of effect oregon a portion of vegetable.

"So it's an accidental for america to beryllium capable to endure immoderate of that."

Akil Dhanji, 58, delivers nutrient for the hub.

Over chickenhearted and murphy curry and saccharine tea, helium recalls his begetter visiting a nutrient slope backmost successful the 1970s arsenic the household settled successful Peterborough having fled Uganda.

He remembers waiting extracurricular a religion disconnected the city's Lincoln Road arsenic his begetter went wrong earlier reappearing with sugar, a artifact of butter, beverage and bread.

Some successful his household ne'er knew astir these trips to the nutrient bank.

"Dad concealed it." Mr Dhanji says. "Being the caput of the location and not being capable to supply for the household is simply a hard thing."

That stigma is partially wherefore the hub offers to present – they don't privation to enactment anyone disconnected who whitethorn consciousness embarrassed astir coming forward.

Among the stops connected tonight's way is simply a low-rise artifact of flats conscionable southbound of the River Nene. Vera Gouveia, 67, and neighbour Salimato Djalo unrecorded here.

A erstwhile mill idiosyncratic from Portugal, Vera has the lung illness COPD and has lived successful the flats for 12 years and successful England for 22.

She unpacks cans of peas and sweetcorn, atom pudding, breadstuff and cucumber.

"It's a large assistance - the outgo of surviving - I'm retired, truthful this helps a lot," says Vera.

She archetypal approached the nutrient hub aft being told a nutrient slope could lone assistance her 3 times.

What would she bash without it?

"I don't know. I would devour less."

Her biggest conflict aft settling her bills, she adds, is paying for food.

And the rising outgo of living?

"It's horrible. You spell to the supermarket and you spot the prices - each time the prices spell up, up, up. It's horrible."

A fewer doors down, the dependable of Salimato's 2 sons watching - and playing - shot successful the lounge bleeds into the kitchen.

A part-time idiosyncratic astatine a supermarket warehouse successful Thrapston, Northamptonshire, Salimato is besides feeling the squeeze.

The nutrient transportation helps easiness the fiscal pressure, she says, from household bills and the costs of covering for her boys.

"Every week, they bring bully food. Always, I'm saying thank-you. They assistance maine excessively much."

Rizwan offers to bring her immoderate khajoor to devour aft a day's fasting.

Peterborough's outgo of surviving enactment hubs person backing until March 2024.

Labour person Sir Keir Starmer has said the outgo of surviving situation is "not inevitable" and that if his enactment was successful authorities it would usage wealth from an accrued windfall taxation connected vigor companies to frost assembly tax.

The Green Party is calling for £1 autobus azygous autobus fares successful England and 35 hours a week of escaped childcare from the property of 9 months.

The Husaini hub, which received 2 grants worthy a full of £18,000, presently supports 35 households.

"I ne'er thought that determination would beryllium this many," Rizwan says.

"If you deliberation astir it, we present person - with the enactment of the metropolis assembly - astir 20 hubs successful Peterborough and each of the hubs are very, precise busy.

He does a speedy calculation: 35 x 20 = 700.

"That gives you a fig for however overmuch request determination is," helium says.

But Rizwan besides knows determination are those who, whether arsenic a effect of pridefulness oregon fear, are not asking for help.

"These individuals are suffering successful silence," Rizwan says.

"That weighs connected my caput and I sometimes person sleepless nights astir that. What I privation is for everyone to beryllium capable to conscionable ask."