How Barnardo's is helping Yorkshire families in cost of living crisis

The organisation talks of cases of young people being forced to sleep on cushions on the floor, parents limiting children’s bath times and turning off the heating, and adults resorting to eating their children’s leftovers. One emerging issue has also been a lack of access to beds and bedding.

Barnardo’s says it has heard stories about families who cannot provide a bed for their children to sleep in or who have been unable to afford to replace beds that are broken. YouGov polling for Barnardo’s in February found almost one in five parents in Yorkshire and Humberside have shared a bed with their child as they couldn’t afford another one.

Danielle Carroll, a mum-of-four from Wyke, near Bradford, is one of those that Barnardo’s has helped. Two of her sons, aged six and three, were sleeping on mattresses on the floor after their beds rotted away with black mould in her rented home.

As Danielle and her partner Wayne tried to cope with rising living costs, they were simply unable to buy new beds for their sons. Barnardo’s was made aware of Danielle’s situation after an NHS health visitor raised concerns about their hardship during a routine visit to check their new baby.

Th family had not asked for help, but Barnardo’s was able to order new beds for the boys, as well as providing baby essentials and other support. “[The cost of living crisis] has hit us a lot harder than I thought it would, with everything going up,” Danielle says. “I’ve been having to borrow money off family and friends which I never used to have to do. With the damp in the house, I’m having to put the heating on a lot more so I’m using a lot more gas.”

She adds: “It’s just so difficult to know where to turn – I have never struggled like we’re struggling now...We have sleepless nights ourselves, sat there all night worrying about the situation and what will happen. I’m just so thankful for Barnardo’s help – I don’t know what we’d have done without it.”

Nearly one in three parents are worried about being made homeless, the YouGov survey of just over one thousand parents revealed, and almost half worry about keeping their home warm for their children. In the North of England, 27 per cent of parents said they had struggled to provide food for their children due to the cost of living crisis and 16 per cent said they had taken on new credit cards, extra debt, or a payday loan to cope with mounting bills.

A woman known as Kerry, from Rotherham, told the Barnardo’s how the cost of living crisis had left her facing financial difficulties for the first time. “I’ve worked all my life,” Kerry, 47, explains. “I was a prison officer and then a psychiatric support worker. But I was diagnosed with having two leaking heart valves last year. I had to leave work and am waiting for open heart surgery, which keeps being delayed. I’m now claiming benefits for the first time."

Kerry has been cutting down on expenses to support herself and her 14-year-old daughter, but has been forced to make heartbreaking sacrifices. “I’m unable to pay my energy bills and struggle for food,” she says.

“We’ve had to go to food banks and have been supported by Barnardo’s with food vouchers….I’ve been cutting back on the amount and quality of the food shopping and I have gone without [food] to make sure my daughter has a proper meal.”

Project worker Vicki Revell, from the Barnardo’s service in Rotherham that supports Kerry and her daughter, sees children in the area facing a number of challenges. She speaks of helping a group of teenage girls from families who are trying to save on energy bills, with some of the youngsters showering at a local gym where they have free access.

Although Barnardo’s has been supporting vulnerable young people and families since its foundation 150 years ago, the charity says people are increasingly relying on its services to keep them afloat and it is expecting demand to continue or increase over the coming months.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have already been distributed across the North of England from the the Barnardo’s Crisis Fund, with the majority of support being spent on food. Vicki says: “I’ve been working with vulnerable children for 20 years, but things have never been as bad as they are now – and it’s only going to get worse.”

Barnardo’s chief executive Lynn Perry says the charity is seeing greater need than it has for many years. “We are supporting children who are hungry, have deteriorating mental and physical health, and do not have access to essential items or safe and warm places,” Lynn says.

"It is shameful that more than one in four children in the UK are living in poverty and the cost-of-living crisis will make this worse as families struggle to pay their bills. Children and young people were hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic, and once again are suffering during this current crisis. Unless Government and society as a whole understand the gravity of the situation, we will pay a heavy price of a lost generation.”

- www.barnardos.org.uk