Numbers.
My brain doesn’t really hold onto numbers. My counterpart at Waveney Foodbank has an incredible memory for stats and figures, he knows half of my numbers better than I do.
I find stats a funny thing. For me, numbers should be factual, scientific — hard facts. But they’re not really, are they? I stare at my screen, looking at the numbers of people fed, from what sort of household, and what category these digits fit into. The numbers don’t seem to match the reality.
We have fed significantly fewer people this year than we did last year. Those numbers would suggest the world is a better place. Personally, my wallet doesn’t say that. The stories on the news don’t say that. The reality is that we had to become tighter with how people could obtain a parcel.
Does this mean that the people who don’t come are stuck at home with nothing to eat? Or does it mean they didn’t really need it last year? Or does it mean it’s too difficult to get our support? The numbers alone don’t answer these questions.
Our Wednesday night drop-in café has significantly increased its numbers. Does this mean more people need the free hot drinks and food we offer? Or does it mean we’ve done a better job advertising it? The numbers alone don’t answer these questions.
This year we have seen a slight increase in donations. Does this mean our social media pleas have had more effect? Does it mean our wonderful donors are feeling better off this year? Does it mean our donors are feeling more empathetic to the situation?
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I recently posted about the new stats from the 2025 Indices of Deprivation. In 2019, one area in Lowestoft was ranked as the 25th most deprived area in the country. This year it’s ranked 333rd, meaning it is now the third most deprived area in Lowestoft. Great news! Or is it? Has it moved up, or have the other two areas in our town gotten significantly worse?
Numbers are helpful, but they don’t reveal the whole story. This is my issue with funding. We must write reports, but often, unless given the opportunity to share more than one case study, they don’t reveal the truth of the impact of a grant.
I would love grant makers to come and spend time with us, to see the difference they are making. Maybe then they’d say, don’t worry about writing another bid or starting another project, you’re making a difference, and we want to be part of that. In fact, we believe you should be paid, so how about we cover that too.
Maybe I just need a degree in statistics? I am, after all, just a carpenter who jumped at the chance to be part of something I saw as good.
In fact, like many of us in this game, I don’t have a degree in how to lead a charity, run social media campaigns, write funding bids, care for volunteers, write reports, manage stock levels, campaign, build websites, or talk at council meetings. Would all of that be helpful? Sure.
Maybe I’m being unfair.
East Suffolk has became a Marmott place. This means the whole district will be actively working towards leveling out health inequalities. The work Sir Micheal Marmott does is brilliant, he has a stat for everything so it cant be that pointless. He does however say “Stats are real life stories with the tears brushed away”
Numbers will never show the smile when someone feels seen, or the relief when a parent knows their children will eat tonight. They can’t measure kindness, or exhaustion, or courage. The bits you can’t put in a spreadsheet, but you feel in your bones.
