By the time her children come home from school, Lisa Clarke’s stomach is rumbling madly. She often feels sick and faint from hunger.
Even so, the mum-of-two tries to resist opening the fridge or food cupboard. If she does need to eat she’ll choose toast. ‘It’s just a bit of bread and butter,’ she explains.
Once the children have had their dinner, Lisa sits patiently to see if they want seconds. ‘I make sure they have those,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘Then if they’ve left anything, I’ll just pick at that.’
She pauses, then quietly adds, ‘Which is quite sad, really.’
Lisa’s family is one in the latest round of statistics reflecting the horrific toll the cost of living crisis is taking on people.
According to research by the Food Foundation, in September, more than 4 million children were living in homes without proper access to food, with a staggering one in four families experiencing food insecurity. Forced to skip meals, eat less or go hungry all day, it’s a figure which has worsened over the last six months as cost of living pressures mount.
Just last week, food bank charity the Trussell Trust launched an Emergency Appeal Fund as they found an unprecedented 1.3 million emergency food parcels were distributed to people between April and September, with almost half a million of these going to children – a third more than were provided during the same period in 2021 and an increase of more than 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Additionally, 320,000 people have been forced to turn to food banks in the Trussell Trust network for the first time in the last six months – a shocking figure, considering one in five people referred to the charity are in working households.
Among those now needing to use the network’s services is Lisa, who lives in Taunton, Somerset with her two children – a daughter who is 16, and her 12-year-old son.
‘It’s incredibly hard to keep up a facade in front of the children and act like everything is okay’ (Picture: Lisa Clarke)
First using a food bank prior to the cost of living crisis after escaping an abusive ex-partner, Lisa now relies on the handouts from the charity to top up what she is able to purchase at the shops – as she has just £20-30 a week in meagre government benefits to feed all three of them.
‘We live in quite a pretty rural area, so my choices are either to go to the local shop, where the prices are maximised, or to use my tiny car and spend money on petrol to get to a cheaper supermarket,’ the part-time jeweller explains. ‘It’s a vicious circle, just so, so frustrating.
‘Food can be scarce. My son said to me the other day, “Oh, pasta again mum?” I can mix it with a sauce and chuck a load of sausages in it and make a sausage pasta bake, with a bit of grated cheese on top. But I’d like to make them something a bit more substantial than a bit of pasta everyday.’
Lisa, 48, continues, ‘I can’t afford to buy cereal – my son loves the Oreo cereal, but it’s about £4 for a box, and that’s just not going to happen. So – and it sounds so bad – but on a morning, I make him a piece of toast and add burger cheese slices and a bit of own-brand Nutella, because he likes the sweet and savoury taste.
‘My daughter has her breakfast at school – they both have free school meals, and thank God for that really, because I’d be finished if I had to do packed lunches as well.
Lisa’s children receive free school meals as she can’t afford the food for packed lunches (Picture: Lisa Clarke)
‘I had a friend who sent the kids a box of sweets through the post, and their reaction was amazing. They were absolutely thrilled.’
‘It’s a juggle, trying to balance the finances,’ adds Lisa, who has no family support since her mother passed away. ‘Trying to tell your kids they can’t have something, it’s hard. It’s heart-wrenching. They’ve absolutely had to grow up a lot quicker than they should have.’
While Lisa is understandably concerned about the level of nutrition that is being provided for her children, she’s not alone in being unable to provide fresh produce for her kids. According to the Food Foundation’s research, 58% of people said they were buying less fruit and 48% said they were reducing the amount of vegetables they buy.
As any mother would, Lisa is careful to put the needs of her children over her own – but at a dangerous cost to her wellbeing.
Lisa often eats just toast during the day and her own health is suffering so she can make sure her children are fed (Picture: Lisa Clarke)
‘I’m 5 ’10” tall, and weigh eight and a half stone,’ she admits.
According to Rachel Macklin, a spokesperson for the Trussell Trust, stories like Lisa’s are pretty relentless. ‘One food bank I visited this week had 10 people come in to pick up parcels, nine of which were for families, which the staff said is a real change,’ she explains.
‘I feel like we hear it in the news a lot now, but choosing between turning on the heating or going shopping to feed your children is a reality that so many people are facing. It’s really upsetting and just totally unacceptable that we’re in this position.
‘Often with the stories we hear about children, it’s the shame and stigma. It’s not having a uniform to go to school in and being singled out because of that. It’s incredibly damaging for them. You hear about children who are coming to school hungry, and that affects their ability to concentrate.
‘Some food banks are not being able to fulfil what they normally do around Christmas in terms of providing nice things for families, and are having to instead give out hot water bottles. You just know that in a lot of cases, there will be children who will be cold, which is just unimaginable – but that’s happening and will happen over Christmas.’
Rebecca Bush is a primary school teacher from Leeds, and echoes Rachel’s statement.
‘It’s really upsetting and just totally unacceptable that we’re in this position’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
‘I’ve had parents tell me that they’re struggling. I had one who had three jobs and was still finding it difficult to make ends meet or pay their vet bills,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘You just can’t fathom how scary it is for a parent who can’t feed their children or give them the basic necessities that are so important, yet so frequently forgotten about.
‘I do have a lot of children who come to me and tell me they’re hungry, especially on a morning. You can see inside their lunchboxes and spot the difference between somebody who has more than enough to eat, and someone who has literally got a jam sandwich and a biscuit, and that’s it.’
And while it shouldn’t be down to teachers like Rebecca to feed these children, they often take matters into their own hands so that nobody in the class goes hungry.
‘In the past, I’ve brought in snacks and food that I have paid for myself which I know specific children will eat, just to make sure they are having something. And I have “free-flow snack”, which means that at any time of the day, the children can get fruit, water or juice whenever they want,’ she explains. ‘That’s a huge thing in my classroom – I want these children to trust me enough to tell me they are hungry, so that I can do all I can to make them comfortable in an environment where they should feel like that.
‘Young children really open up when they feel safe with you, so it’s about building a respectful relationship where they know you are there to protect and help them.’
Teacher Rebecca Bush says that a child’s packed lunch gives a strong indication of the families who are struggling (Picture: Getty Images)
Of course, it isn’t just the financial pressure that parents are facing – the emotional impact of not being able to provide for their children is having a severe effect on their mental health.
‘There is absolute guilt there, because I don’t feel good enough as a parent,’ admits Lisa. ‘I constantly cannot sleep at night because I’m anxious about the next morning – what I’m going to do, what I’m going to get them, how I’m going to feed them before they go to school. It’s a constant knock on effect. The government talks about tackling the mental health crisis, but this is making people iller. It’s not getting better.
‘It’s incredibly hard to keep up a façade in front of the children and act like everything is okay. I don’t sugarcoat things, but I don’t tell them everything they need to know. They’re very good and extremely supportive, but they do have their moments where they get a bit like, “Why can’t I have this? Why can’t I have that?” Of course, they do, they’re kids – they don’t completely understand, because I won’t tell them the horrors of what’s going on.
‘Even simple things that boost your self-esteem, like having a haircut. While it would be lovely, I haven’t had my hair cut in years because I can’t afford it. My children come first.’
Food banks are seeing more and more families falling into a place where the money just isn’t covering their shopping bills (Credits: Getty Images)
For parents who may find themselves in a similar situation, Rachel says help is always at hand.
‘I would say to please, please reach out. We know how difficult it is to walk through that door, or to make a phone call to an agency that can refer you but we will absolutely be there,’ she encourages. ‘And once you’re in the foodbank, they can help with making sure that you have got everything you’re entitled to, benefits-wise. It’s not a nice place to be, but the volunteers will make you feel as comfortable as possible.
‘They try to give as holistic support as they can so you won’t just come away with just food.’
Rachel adds that there is a concern that not all parents feel able to access the support they offer because of that guilt and stigma attached to using a food bank – and the fear that someone will call social services.
‘But they should know that they’re not alone – we’re seeing so many people now coming for the first time,’ she explains. ‘Staff at the same food bank I visited this week hadn’t ever met eight out of 10 people who came in.
‘We’re just seeing more and more families falling into that place where the money just isn’t covering it – and the cold hasn’t really hit yet, so we can only see that figure increasing as we move into the school holidays, when people are under pressure to spend more at Christmas.’
Teacher Rebecca agrees. ‘I think people are afraid of looking like they’re not caring for their children, but it’s the opposite – if you’re telling us you can’t afford to feed them, you’re helping us look after them better.
‘Teachers are not there to “grass” on the parents or accuse them of not feeding their child, we’re there to support them in any way you possibly can. We can signpost them in so many ways to different groups, and there is help that we have specifically for schools which can be given to parents to help them in situations like this.’
While she is incredibly grateful to be helped by a charity such as the Trussell Trust, Lisa believes the government needs to be doing more to help those like herself who are in financial hardship.
‘You’ve got Sunak, we had Truss, and they just want to line the pockets of the rich and make the poor people get poorer,’ she says angrily.
‘These parliamentarians have no idea of the real crisis that we’re actually going through. They stand there in the Commons, scrapping away like little babies, spitting their dummies out of prams, and just don’t realise the truth behind the situation. And where does that leave the rest of us?’
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