AFTER more than a decade as a care worker, single-mum Fatou, 36, is surviving on as little as a banana a day and is ashamed of how desperate she has become.
After bills, Fatou and her son, who live in Sunbury-on-Thames, have just £20 a week to live on and this needs to cover her food, petrol and any unexpected costs.
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With inflation at an eye-watering 10%, and predicted to rocket to 18%, even supermarket basics have jumped in price, so now even food is a luxury.
“Sometimes I feel pushed to extremes,” she said, “if it wasn’t for my son I might do something stupid, like try to take my life”.
Every Monday morning Fatou breaks an egg into a bowl, measures out some flour and milk and beats it into a pancake mix.
This will be breakfast for Ali, 10, and it will have to stretch until Wednesday.
She adds: “Everything has gone up. Eggs have gone from 70p to 90p for six and I have to make that box last the week. I measure everything”.
“Of course I’m missing meals. I’ve got used to it. If I eat one banana in the morning it will last me all day until dinner. As long as Ali has food I’m OK.”
Fatou says she’s too scared to open her own post for fear of threatening letters.
Her energy supplier referred her to a debt collection agency when her energy bills more than doubled and she couldn’t pay the £123 she owed fast enough.
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Fatou’s electricity tariff jumped to £89 a month from £32 in May. Gas is up to £76 from £40.
“It’s so scary,” she said. “The costs are unbearable. I know it’s their business but energy companies have to put themselves in our shoes”.
For one of her two jobs, Fatou earns £15 per hour supporting an autistic woman in Surrey. “I love helping people,” she said, “often they are very sad and helpless, I make them happy”.
Heartbreakingly though, the cost of living crisis is affecting her son’s education.
Fuel costs – which rose to as much as £1.91 a litre this summer – for work and to take Ali to school set Fatou back £40 a week. But some days she just can’t afford the petrol to drive him.
“I told the school he was sick because I was embarrassed to tell them the real reason,” she said.
Money experts suggest paying bills by direct debit as soon we get our wages. Fatou does, but the recent price jumps shattered her careful financial plans.
“I’m thinking about money all the time,” she said, “but I have to be strong because my son needs me”.
Britain’s army of thousands of hard working care workers are being pushed to the brink by the soaring cost of living, the Care Workers Charity has said.
The government will give every household £400 off their electricity bill, beginning in instalments in October, under the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
But the charity has written to the Big Six energy companies urging them to donate some of their billions of pounds in profits to support care workers who are struggling to pay their bills now.
Karonlina Gerlich, CEO of the Care Workers Charity, said: “Care workers are going to work hungry or cannot afford to pay their bills or feed their children.”
“We cannot expect them to deliver great quality of care when they have to worry about meeting the basic needs of their families. Demand for help is outstripping our funding.”
The boss of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, recently told The Sun it will donate 10% of its profits to a fund to help its poorest customers pay their energy bills.
But food banks, borrowed petrol money, and the Care Workers Charity, which gave Fatou a £500 grant, were her lifeline when debt collectors came knocking.
The first thing Fatou did was pay off what she owed and bought food.
“The money made a very big difference,” she said, “I used it to buy enough food for a month in Costco, long life milk, everything long lasting.
“It gave me one month’s peace of mind. One month without a sleepless night.”
The Care Workers Charity has launched a Cost of Living Crisis campaign in a public appeal for donations.
Where to find help
£400 energy discount from the government
An automatic £400 paid to you in six instalments starting from October 2022 that you won’t need to pay back.
Council tax rebate
This is £150 for households in council tax bands A to D. Payment should be automatic, chase your council if not.
Energy company grants and government schemes
For other government help schemes including the Winter Fuel Payment, Cold Weather Payment and Warm Home Discount, go to the Ofgem website.
Foodbanks
You will need to be referred with a voucher, which can be issued by schools, GPs and advice agencies. Your local food bank can advise you.
Grants to help pay off your energy debts
In debt to your energy supplier? You may get a grant to help pay it off. Citizen Advice has a list of suppliers that offer grants.
Citizens Advice
You may be eligible for the Household Support Fund and Cost of Living Payments. Details are on this page of the Citizen Advice website or call on 0808 223 1133.
