Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey has received a pat on the back for supporting the community support bus.

The converted double-decker tours the Island with a mobile supermarket offering members cut-price food to help them stretch budgets as the cost of living crisis begins to bite.

Peter Foster, writing in the Financial Times, quoted 66-year-old pensioner David Fuller saying: “It’s a lifesaver. Everything has gone up - food, gas, electric bills - but pay has stayed the same. Three years ago I didn’t need somewhere like this, but now I do.”

Mr Fuller's pension gives him less than £1,000 a month to live on.

Sheppey is ranked as one of the most deprived areas of Britain. The support bus offers surplus food and free fruit and vegetables via Morrisons to members for £3.50 a week. Debt counselling, help with literacy, and mental health services are available in private cubicles on the top deck.

The project, led by Lynne Clifton of the Salvation Army and put together by Sheppey Community Development Forum, a wing of the Oasis Charitable Trust, was the brainchild of Oasis founder the Rev Steve Chalke.

Mrs Clifton said: “Recently a regular came in and I could tell she didn’t look her usual self. When we had a word she burst into tears and took out a huge gas bill for £2,000. We were able to help with meter reading and dealing with her energy company.”

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, charities are playing an increasing role in helping people make ends meet. The FT said: "The charitable top-up comes only in areas like Sheppey that are fortunate enough to have a volunteer network."

The government says it is “pressing full steam” ahead with its levelling up agenda by offering a £37bn package of emergency support. “By investing in the areas that need it most, improving schools, supporting regeneration and generating higher paid jobs we will improve the lives of the poorest in areas across the UK,” it said.

Mr Chalke said: "We need a new civil contract between government and the voluntary sector; one built on respect and trust rather than servitude.”

Meanwhile, the Oasis Academy has its own problems. Ofsted inspectors have just labelled it as 'inadequate'.