You and Yours

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You and Yours: Hundreds of people turned away as soaring demand hits a chain of food clubs.

11/04/2022

Hundreds of people turned away as soaring demand hits a chain of food clubs.

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Hundreds of people turned away as soaring demand hits a chain of food clubs.

Cost of living squeeze hits a chain of food clubs as hundreds turned away.

A food charity says it's turning hundreds away every week as the cost of living starts to bite. Hollow promise of the funeral plan provider that went bust. Carwash comeback.

Food Charity The Bread and Butter thing says it's having to turn away hundreds of people every week across the North of England as the cost of living crisis starts to bite. The project collects excess food from supermarkets and other sources and sells them to customers at a much reduced price. It says it's now seeing unprecedented demand for its services. Winifred speaks to chief executive of the charity Mark Game and you'll hear from people using the service in Stalybridge. 

A prepaid funeral plan company which has collapsed told its customers "there's nothing to worry about" if it ever went out of business. We've been looking at how the company - called 'Safe Hands' - reassured its 46,000 customers in its brochures and on its website.  But now the company's gone into administration, it's emerged there's not enough money to cover all of their funerals. 

It looks like the automatic carwash is making a comeback because of the decline of places where it's done by hand. There were up to 20,000 hand car washes in the UK in 2018, now there are around 8,000.  The pandemic and Brexit are two big reasons behind this, along with greater scrutiny of the way hand car washes are run. 

We're talking about the psychology of consumer pricing after the PR guru Lynne Franks spotted a new trend at M&S. They have hundreds of items priced at 39.50 which she thinks might be the 'sweet spot' that suggests quality and affordability in the current climate.  But what is it about ending with a .50, a .99 or a round number that makes us want to buy? We'll hear from Professor of Consumer Psychology Gareth Harvey.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: CATHERINE MURRAY

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Hundreds of people turned away as soaring demand hits a chain of food clubs.

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