A few days of austerity to mark the lifetimes spent in poverty

On paper, it sounded simple enough.

With the age of austerity unlikely to pass into history any time soon, many of us have already cut back on the luxuries, Oxfam decided to capitalise on the make do and mend mentality.

In the hope of highlighting the problem of poverty, the charity asked people in cities across the north of England to give up modern comforts from hot water to central heating.

The challenge was to last just one week, but as the novelty of cold showers and in some cases a purely vegan diet wore off, those taking part were asked to keep an online diary of their experiences in the hope it might inspire others.

Some of those who signed up to the What Does Poverty Mean To You project decided to give up just one 21st-century luxury, Sarah Gledhill decided to go one step further. The 18-year-old from Halifax, swapped the comfort of her bed for a sleeping mat, limited herself to just one hour of electricity per day and ate the very basic of diets.

"Sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable, cold and cramped," says Sarah. "But when you do something like this, you have to remind yourself that unlike the millions of people who live in abject poverty all over the world, I'll never have to worry about how I'll afford to send my children to school or where the next meal for my family will come from. The most profound part of the challenge for me was the diet, which mostly consisted of rice and beans. For the first couple of days I felt really drained, lethargic and couldn't concentrate because the amount of food I ate almost halved.

"But after a while I came to realise that the amount I usually eat is excessive and it has made me determined to cut back."

More than 13 million people in the UK live in poverty and research has shown it can effect everything from the chances of getting a job to the age at which you die.

For charities like Oxfam, the battle to improve standards of living, not just in this country, but across the world has not got any easier over the years, but those behind this latest project hope the effect on those who took part will not be easily forgotten.

"I decided to go vegan for the week," says Lucy Coen, who works part-time as a waitress, while studying for a Masters degree at Bradford University. To mark the end of the challenge she also donated her day's wages to the charity. "By the end of the week, I was a few pounds lighter, in both weight and cash. However, the whole experience gave me at least a little understanding of how hard life can be when you don't have any choice over what you eat.

"I hope I might have even encouraged people to do a little bit more to help those people who struggle to survive everyday but do so with strength and determination even in the most incredibly harsh circumstances."

The project coincided with the overhaul of the welfare system and the charity also hopes it will highlight the real knife edge on which some people already live.

"With more people struggling due to the financial crisis, now is the time to stand-up against poverty," says an Oxfam spokesman.

"Most people receiving benefits do want to work, and punishing them as if they are criminals repaying a debt to society is not fair.

"What we need is a system that enables people the opportunity to work, while still retaining a safety net for those who can't."