The day an elderly couple stepped quietly into Provision House, Nigel noticed immediately that something was wrong. Their shoulders sagged. Their faces carried the unmistakable weight of grief.

When he approached them, the story unfolded in fragments, each one harder to take in than the last.
“Two elderly people came in,” Nigel recalls. “They’d lost their son and his wife to a car crash. Left two young girls… and had to wait another four weeks for their pension, and they’ve got two extra mouths to feed.”

The couple had entered retirement expecting peace, routine, and simplicity. Overnight, everything changed. They became full-time carers for their traumatised granddaughters, juggling their own shock with the sudden responsibility of raising two children again at an age when they should have been cared for, not stretched thin.

Their financial situation was dire. With weeks to go until their next pension payment, the money they had left was meant only for their own basic needs. Now it had to stretch to cover growing children, school lunches, snacks, warm meals, and the sudden increase in gas and electricity needed to keep the girls warm at night.
They came to Provision House because they had nowhere else to turn.

But what they found was immediate help, offered without hesitation.

Thanks to the food supplied by FareShare Midlands, the staff and volunteers at Provision House were able to give them a full shop that same day—fresh produce, cupboard staples, child-friendly items, and enough to relieve the pressure for several weeks. There were no forms to fill out, no delays, no hoops to jump through—just compassion and action when it mattered most.

Nigel remembers watching the couple’s posture shift, still grieving, still overwhelmed, but no longer paralysed by fear about how they would feed the girls.
He said, with a quiet sincerity,
“Everyone’s got a different story, and we’re here to help. If we can help, it makes us happy as well.”

It is stories like these that highlight the real meaning of community support. FareShare Midlands ensures Provision House has the stock it needs to act instantly when a crisis hits. There is no planning for something as sudden as the loss of a child, but with the right support in place, families can at least feel held through the unthinkable.

The elderly couple left that day with food, but more importantly, they left with some stability at a time when their lives had been shaken to the core. Their crisis will not disappear quickly, but because of the partnership between FareShare Midlands and Provision House, they did not have to face the first steps alone.

If you have any questions, contact us:
Email: fundraising@faresharemidlands.org.uk
Number: 07943 771206