Bite to eat

So there I was, sitting in the sunshine at lunchtime, fiddling as ever with me fern, checking my Twitter feed. There was a man sitting a on bench a few feet away: 40-something, salt and pepper curls, blue polo shirt, rangy frame, rusty mountain bike. Suddenly he turns to me and asks in a vaguely Tyneside accent "Hey, are you an 'Arrogate bloke?" I said, yes I was. Sort of. Then he asked: "Know anywhere round 'ere I can get a bite to eat?"
But no, he wasn't fishing for restaurant recommendations or directions to the nearest caff. He was asking if I knew anything about the local food banks. He'd already been to one but they've given him tins "and I've literally got nothing to cook them with". He mentioned having gone to the social but said he wouldn't get his cheque till Friday. And then he'd been told to go and see the local parish priest - yes, there is a Catholic church just around the corner from we were sitting (one of two or three - Harrogate is quite possibly a secret Papist enclave). The trouble was, the parish priest was out and he was therefore still without a bite to eat.
I had to tell him that unfortunately, I didn't know anything about the local food banks. "I'm afraid it's not my specialism".
"Alright, mate, sorry to bother you." He then sat back down again and stared into space for ten minutes or while I continued to scroll along my Twitter feed, suddenly worrying that he might be offended if I offered him some money.
All of a sudden he stood back up and strolled off round the corner to the church.
I followed. Polo shirt man went in and came out back out again almost immediately clutching a piece of paper.
"Is the priest in then?", I asked him.
"No, mate, but I've got a leaflet. I'm going to see if there are any numbers on here of places where I can get something to eat."
"Would it help if I give you a few pounds?"
"That's totally up to you mate". But it was clear from his expression that he liked the idea.
Rusty bike bloke didn't seem especially stressed - or indeed distressed - by his situation. He just had an air of weary resignation about him.
So I gave him a fiver. I know it's not much and in retrospect maybe I should have given him more. But I hope it made a little difference to what must have been a difficult day.
Harrogate is a well-to-do town, mostly pretty green (in the horticultural sense) and prosperous looking. But today wasn't the first time I have been approached by desperate people in the street talking about food banks and not having the money to pay for a meal.
No, I've no idea where he got the rusty bike from.