Kerry's story

Kerry, 47, and her daughter live in Rotherham and started being supported by Barnardo’s recently. Kerry has never struggled as much as she finds herself struggling now. 

“I’ve worked all my life,” Kerry 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 tells us how difficult it has been now that her circumstances have changed so unexpectedly. “It’s been quite a shock,” she says. Unable to work and with her benefits not rising with the rate of inflation, she finds herself in a situation she never thought she would be in. “I’m unable to pay my energy bills and struggle for food. We’ve had to go to food banks and have been supported by Barnardo’s with food vouchers.” 

Making sacrifices no parent should make

As the cost-of-living continues to rise, Kerry is doing all she can to support herself and her daughter, but cutting down on expenses is no longer enough and she’s been forced to make sacrifices no parent should be forced to make. “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.” 

All of this has taken an emotional and psychological toll too. Kerry is worried about the impact this has had on her daughter's quality of life and her ability to experience things that other young people can enjoy. “We never go out now and I feel sorry having to say [to my daughter that] we can’t afford it. She’s been so understanding – but I find it so depressing and it’s a huge worry.” 

No parent should be placed in this position, every child and young person deserves a happy and healthy childhood. 

More and more families in need

We support many families facing situations just like Kerry, across our 800 plus services. Families across the country are being forced to find ways to cope with rising costs, causing harm to their health and wellbeing. 

Project worker Vicki Revell, from the Barnardo’s service in Rotherham that supports Kerry and her daughter tells us about the challenges she sees children facing in her area, “I know school children who are having sandwiches as evening meals.”  

The problem is wide reaching and severe. “I support a group of teenage girls from families who are trying to save on energy bills by cutting down the number of times they can shower,” Vicki explains, “Due to a local charity scheme, they have free access to a local gym and so they go down every day and use the showers there. But they are also wearing their clothes several times because their parents want to cut down using the washing machine. One girl was told by a parent to spray her clothes with air freshener.” 

How poverty impacts young people's mental health

Vicki explains how the situation impacts these young people on a fundamental level. "I can see how this is affecting their self-esteem and mental health," she says. Poverty impacts every aspect of a person’s life and evidence shows that it has long term effects on their mental health and their opportunities in later life. 

Although Barnardo’s have been supporting the most vulnerable young people and families since we were founded over 150 years ago, today people are increasingly relying on our services to keep them afloat. We have been giving out warm clothing, energy vouchers and nourishing food to people who need it and we’re expecting demand to continue or even increase over the coming months. 

Vicki tells us, “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.” 

This is why we are calling for more action on child poverty and the cost-of-living crisis, to stop things getting worse and so that people like Kerry and her daughter can live beyond just struggling to survive.