This means that there would be a high risk of getting into debt, reviewing your grocery shopping list to ensure that we don't buy what we can survive without, more second hand clothes/shoes shopping. No money to do fun things (ice cream, cinema, etc).

Hi Millie,

If benefits didn't increase in line with inflation it would bring a very significant negative impact on me and my family.

We are already trying to make ends meet, scrimp and save. It would squeeze us further, there would be no money for social activities, health and exercise based activities, leisure /holidays just wouldn't be affordable.

The ripple effect of this would be a strain on our mental health and also, in the long run, our physical health and wellbeing will feel the detriment of this unfair economic situation.

Thank you.

Well finally a bit of sunshine, the children have enjoyed the garden which has eased the burden and made it a little more bearable as they have been kept busy helping do the garden jobs.

Now summer is fast approaching how do you pay for meals when the children are not in school? How do I occupy them without it costing me? These are all my worries.

Half term is here again, I've been worrying about how I will pay for extra food while my daughter is at home and how she will keep herself occupied, luckily she has been asked to help out at a church event for a few days and will therefore be away. As for me it will be a bit quiet and lonely at home. Thanks to Changing Realities I have been able to buy a strimmer to tidy up the garden, so this will keep me busy for a while, then I can enjoy some fresh air without having to leave home.

Everything seems better when the sun is shining and everyone’s mood appears brighter to match the weather. Although with the sunshine comes the reality that summer is fast approaching. Since the huge gas and electric hikes it’s scary to think I don’t have much money set aside for summer. The summer hunger payments for children on free school meals have stopped and this is a stark reality. I will have very little money to survive all summer never mind day trips or anything for the children to entertain them.

Our local authority has helped people in crisis with fuel costs, food parcels and vouchers for clothing and bedding. I have not applied for any of these for myself but I have assisted other people with such applications.

Personally, I have benefited from LA providing holiday activities for my children (HAF) - they really enjoyed these. Such things helps keep our children from the streets and from trouble that they may get themselves into if they feel bored.

Today I used a gift voucher for a trip to the cinema with my daughter, a proper treat which we both enjoyed.

The children are on their Easter holiday now. Although I must work throughout, I can neither afford the £60 a day it costs for my youngest child to attend the holiday camp, nor can I afford to take time off work. Solo parent on a zero hours contract and no holiday entitlement…

I rely on many services for myself and my family, from school to buses to local community services like support groups and arts and crafts sessions in the community. I rely on our local leisure centre who are a safe warm space and our local theatre, who are also a safe warm space, but also offer discounts to low income families meaning my kids get access to important cultural opportunities when possible. I also rely on social services who support our family and mental health services who support me to support my family. Social services cover school taxis costs and we rely on the taxi services which are heavily subsidiarised in our area. In ways I seldom acknowledge, I rely on our local council and the community events and free opportunities they provide for families, especially holiday clubs and school meal vouchers and town centre activities. Like, in a couple week they're running a light festival that we're looking forward to checking out. I may not be able to easily access food banks but I can access important community and cultural opportunities for my families which I feel in very valuable.

Mainly, I rely on school, they support my children incredibly well even though they're grossly underfunded. My kids get to lend a laptop from school for homework, they get well fed plus free access to daily breakfast club (in fairness social services essentially cover that cost for us), they enable kids to attend events and learn things I can't teach them and tailored to each of my child's needs. I rely heavily on school.

We found out this week that our school isn't striking this week, they posted to the parents chat space and every parent that replied said they stand with teachers over strikes and support the strikes. It was beautiful. Our schools are grossly underfunded and underappreciated, how many kids would essentially starve without schools for Pete's sake? How many kids would grow up unable to world or contribute to society if not for our schools?

Public infrastructure is essential to a healthy economy and society, from schools to social services to buses and community development. Without them no of our essential services like government would function at all.

The best two days were when the local community centre held a Make and Play Group and a Street Dance Class - at just £1.50 a child and 50p for juice/biscuit it was manageable. The rest of the days varied from okay to tough - thankfully the forecast of rain didn’t materialise so we could hang out in the park a lot. I definitely noticed the increase in the cost of food this week though - things that I’m used to being under a pound have now gone up to £1.25 or £1.50!