Community activist calls on MP to address cost of living crisis

A Dewsbury community activist has called upon the town’s MP to push for more support for people facing the cost of living crisis.
Tanisha Bramwell supports the community with advice and help with food, gas and electricity, through her non-profit organisation Bramwell’s C.I.O.Tanisha Bramwell supports the community with advice and help with food, gas and electricity, through her non-profit organisation Bramwell’s C.I.O.
Tanisha Bramwell supports the community with advice and help with food, gas and electricity, through her non-profit organisation Bramwell’s C.I.O.

Tanisha Bramwell, founder of non-profit organisation Bramwell’s C.I.O, which supports the community with advice, food, gas and electricity, said the cost of living crisis is taking its toll as she receives “heartbreaking” phone calls from people who are struggling on a daily basis.

She said: “People are making the assumption that we are in the circumstances that we were in two years ago, which is that people who are relying on food banks are single mothers or unemployed - which is not the case now at all.

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“I have people coming through that have two incomes and they still need help with gas and electricity.

The protest was held on Saturday, April 9, outside MP Mark Eastwood's office.The protest was held on Saturday, April 9, outside MP Mark Eastwood's office.
The protest was held on Saturday, April 9, outside MP Mark Eastwood's office.

“There was this one woman in particular who got in contact with me who has four children.

“It was a heartbreaking conversation but, you know what hurt me? It was when she broke talking about Sunday dinner.

“She said to me: ‘I have always made sure we have Sunday dinner. Even if we can’t have an actual Sunday dinner we always have something different on Sundays. But I don’t know what I am going to feed them and it’s three hours away’.

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“I immediately asked her what they liked to eat and we took two weeks’ worth of food.

“A local man then saw the post I put out on social media about the situation and wanted to give £60 to her.

“But she said: ‘Tell him thank you, but put it towards the food bank because you have given me two weeks’ worth of food and I get paid on Monday. I am not going to take £60 off someone who needs it more than me’.

“It is being that genuine, even though it would have been very easy to take that extra help.

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“It’s these moments that MPs don’t care about because they don’t think it exists - they're out of touch.”

In hope of a response from Dewsbury MP Mark Eastwood, Tanisha and Coun Fazila Loonat held a peaceful protest on Saturday, April 9, outside his office in the town centre, which more than 200 people attended.

The protest captured the stories of those struggling in the area with guest speakers including an NHS nurse, a care assistant, a mother of three, and a community leader from a local mental health group.

Tanisha said: “We pulled in the crowd that we needed in front of Mark Eastwood’s office.

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“The protest was mainly organised to make a statement to him about the cost of living crisis we are currently going through.

“This is the beginning of protesting and campaigning because to sit back and wait for this Government to prioritise working class communities is just something that is never going to happen.

“The cost of living crisis is not going to go anywhere but it can be helped.

“I want to give thanks to the people who came out and supported the protest - because it was a group effort. I also want to thank the Unite Union, the elected officials and the local people.

“We have been able to create a baseline and something to work on, which I am really thankful for.”