CHRONIC illness, long-term unemployment and benefit sanctions are blighting the lives of Keighley people using a charity which offers food to the needy in the town centre each week.

These were some of the struggles highlighted by visitors to the Intouch Foundation service, which was again operating its mobile food kitchen in Church Green last Wednesday evening. (Dec 17)

46-year-old Philip Payne who moved to Keighley from Bradford looking for a fresh start has been out of work since 2009.

"I still don't think there are more jobs around, if there were there wouldn't be as many people unemployed as there are," he said.

"I've got somewhere to live now, but I've been homeless in winter before – that was down in Manchester. I used sleeping bags, bit of cardboard, anything I could get my hands on to keep warm."

Praising Intouch Foundation's assistance, he added: "Every week the food is beautiful. You can always depend on them, each week they are either here on time or early."

Hugh O'Callaghan, also 46, said he classed himself as a "recovering drug addict", though he has managed to stay drug-free for 15 years.

He suffered a severe stroke in 2010 and said he was told he would never be able to work again. He is now disabled, but said he has been ordered to prove that he is not fit for work.

"It's hard to get enough money, there are all these new [benefit] restrictions," he said.

"I use a walking stick, I've no centre of balance, I keep going deaf in one ear and I need drops to stop my eye drying out.

"I think Intouch are brilliant. I'd rather eat here than at a curry house!"

31-year-old Andy, who did not want to give his full name, has been unemployed since suddenly losing his glass cutting job a year ago.

He said he believed senior politicians were seriously out of touch with the problems affecting ordinary people.

"After I lost my job I found myself getting more and more skint," he said. "The rich are getting richer, the poor poorer and the Government doesn't have a clue.

"I've got the skills for work, but I still can't find a job."

Last week's Intouch Foundation food kitchen in Keighley was backed by a nearby stall run by the Bradford-based Human Relief Foundation (HRF) which donated cold weather clothing to deprived people facing another winter.

HRF fundraising manager Muqaddus Khan, said: "We teamed up with Intouch about a month ago, and we're giving homeless people good quality hats, scarves and gloves to keep them warm."

Khurm Mehzar, Keighley co-ordinator for Intouch Foundation, said he wanted to thank HRF and Keighley Town Council for their support.

"We serve an average of 65 to 75 meals every Wednesday in Keighley," he said. "We see at least one new face every week, but we feel there are still people out there needing our help who are too shy to come down."