An 11-year-old girl gives up her pocket money each week to help pay for food, her mum says. Single mother Victoria says she skips meals and has been forced to survive on her children's leftovers as she struggles to make ends meet during the cost of living crisis.
She can't work because she is a full-time carer for a five-year-old with serious health conditions and gets around £300 a week in benefits. The mum-of-four recently had to borrow money from her young daughter to pay for basics and a five-pound food bank fee, leaving her feeling "ashamed".
Victoria says her eldest daughter Keira donates her pocket money every week to help with buying milk, bread and other essentials. After donating money she got for her birthday from her nan, Kiera has promised to also hand over any cash she gets for Christmas.
READ MORE: Pressure on foodbanks intensifies this winter as cost-of-living crisis escalates
Victoria told The Mirror: "It’s heartbreaking. Keira saw me smashing into the tin money chest last week and said to me: ‘It’s okay mummy, you can have my money’. It made me feel awful and ashamed. I gave her a big hug. I couldn’t even afford the local food bank £5 fee."
The 34-year-old from Bath, Somerset admitted: "I go hungry because I can’t afford to eat - I fill myself up on cups of tea. When the children come home I make sure they have a meal and I take anything they have left on their plates."
Victoria, who has received support from charity Action for Children, said she hasn't been able to cope with rising food prices and soaring energy bills. She added that most of what is in her cupboard at the moment had come from food banks.
The mum said: "I've got really bad anxiety, I’m not sleeping with all the money worries keeping me awake at night. It makes you feel you’re not good enough to be a parent when you have to ask for help."
It comes as research found that 26 per cent of children of working parents said they would give their gift or pocket money to their parents to help them cover costs this Christmas. And another 34 per cent responded "maybe" when asked.
One in five working parents surveyed for Action for Children said they are worried they will not be able to afford Christmas presents. More than half of those surveyed (53 per cent) said they have worried often about money over the past six months, experiencing trouble sleeping, worsening mental health and becoming upset or stressed in front of their children.
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