I was struggling to afford food until I found a ‘life-saving’ service – I’m now saving up for a house
A MOTHER of three has confessed she was struggling to put food on the table until she found out about an essential money-saving service – and now she even manages to put money into savings.
Laura Manx, 39 from Hertfordshire and her partner found themselves struggling after they both caught Covid during the pandemic.
The former school care provider said: “We were on a low income to begin with, but things really took a turn for the worse after the pandemic.”
During the lockdowns, Laura’s family had to separate to try and shield the most vulnerable in the family.
This meant her partner Ryan a personal fitness coach had to stay with his parents, while Laura stayed with their two kids.
Even once the pandemic ended Laura and Ryan both found themselves struggling with long Covid.
Laura eventually had to leave her job as a school worker and Ryan was unable to start back as a fitness instructor because of poor health.
Like many other families, Laura and Ryan struggled to afford essentials like paying for food and bills.
“Everything went up. Even though things were bad during the pandemic it was after the lockdowns ended that things were tough.”
“A lot of people were able to go back to work as normal, but that wasn’t the case for me Ryan.”
Mum Laura said on tough days she and Ryan considered skipping meals so their children could eat.
She said: “I felt a lot of guilt and shame. You get in an emotional rut where you start questioning everything.”
Laura also fell pregnant during the lockdowns which meant one more mouth to feed.
A fellow mum and friend told Laura about the Bread and Butter Club and the essential service that has kept food on Laura’s table.
Laura said: “Without the Bread and Butter Club in very big trouble without it, we would be in a position where every decision would need to be totted up against rewards and have to spread food further.”
“The money I was able to save on food I could put towards rising bills and didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table.
“It was a lifesaver.”
Attending the food club allowed Laura to allocate more money than she would normally spend on food to her electricity and gas bill – which helped her get back on her feet financially.
How does the Bread and Butter Club work?
Anyone who attends the Bread and Butter Club for help with food will be given three bags of food and essentials for £8.50.
Each bag is split into food groups. One bag will be fruit and vegetables, and another will be ambient cupboard staples like tins, jars, sweet treats, coffee, cereal and bread.
The third bag will hold refrigerated items these are milk, cheese prepper vegetables, meat and ready meals.
The value of the three shopping bags handed out changes depending on the week and hub someone attends but on average each bag is worth £35.
Laura says: “The stock we get sent varies day to day, some days we have whole chickens and mean joint on other days we’ve had speciality cheese.”
Laura and her family are now settled in a housing trust property.
She said: “We love where we are now, the children are happy with school as well.”
Laura says on tough months she still uses the Bread and Butter Club.
“We still use the TBBT whenever I need to top up on essentials. It brings out monthly food costs down dramatically.”
Laura says the Bread and Butter clubs is a part of all the meals in her household.
“The TBBT is always somewhere in our dinners and lunches even if it’s just something from tins as part of the sauce, or snacks for the kids during the day.”
She hopes that five to ten years from now she and her family will have a house of their own somewhere in the country.
“Our long-term goal is to move to the country and get a farmhouse – I’m not sure when that will be but I’m staying positive. “
Laura says she’d always recommend the Bread and Butter Club to anyone who is struggling.
“I would recommend the Bread and Butter Club to anyone. There’s a horrible stigma attached to those struggling.”
“It’s not always the case that people aren’t working hard enough but often they just need a bit of a helping hand.”
The mum of three has also started volunteering at the Bread and Butter Club to help build back her strength.
What is the Bread and Butter Club?
The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) club is a national charity operating food clubs in 120 locations across the country.
TBBT delivers healthy, low-cost, nutritious food, to around 75,000 members, equating to approximately 15 million meals a year.
TBBT’s food is directly sourced from manufacturers and the majority of supermarket retailers including Sainsbury’s.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
What support is available for those on low incomes?
Struggling households can claim free cash via the government’s Household Support Fund (HSF).
The scheme was first brought in in 2021 with the aim to help support vulnerable households.
Currently, it’s worth £842million and the pot of cash has been shared between councils in England.
Those councils then decide how to distribute their share of the fund among residents.
That means what you can get depends on where you live.
In many cases, help is offered to households on benefits or a low income, but that’s not always the case.
Help includes free cash, grocery vouchers, or white goods.
Some new parents can get £500 in free cash through a pretty unknown scheme.
The Sure Start Maternity Grant is a payment that comes from the Government and issued to new or expectant parents.
The money is designed to help you cover the costs of having a child.
Some councils also offer support through the welfare support fund, to help cover the costs of essentials, from buying new furniture to food vouchers.
An investigation by The Sun found that hard-up Brits can apply for help worth up to £1,000.
New or expectant parents can get up to £442 worth of free food a year through the relatively unknown Healthy Start scheme.
It’s open to anyone more than 10 weeks pregnant or with a child under four years old and on benefits.
If eligible, you are issued a Healthy Start card which you can use in a number of supermarkets and retailers.
You can use the card to buy plain liquid cow’s milk, fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses and infant formula milk.
You can also use it to purchase vitamins and vitamin drops for your baby or young child.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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