Mother of three surviving on one meal a day

Eve lives on the 11th floor of an apartment block with twin babies and a five-year-old.

The heating hasn’t worked all winter and there are wires coming out of the wall. When the lift doesn’t work (which she says is often) she feels trapped at home because she can’t manage the double buggy on the stairs.

She struggles to afford the cost of school uniform and panics every time her daughter’s school introduces another dress-up day or asks her to pay for a trip.  When Hackney Foodbank interviewed Eve, her daughter Anna was off school – the £11.50 trip that day was more than she could manage.

She said: “Everything is so expensive – especially for the twins.  We get through so many nappies in a week, and our bills are always higher in the winter.  My daughter wanted to do gymnastics, but we can’t afford it. I don’t know what we would do without the food bank.”

The No Child Left Hungry campaign by Hackney Foodbank aims to raise vital funds for emergency food and caseworker support for families like Eve’s.

Things have been particularly bad for Eve since the summer when she left her old flat because of a sewage leak.  Her furniture was ruined and she had to replace it all.  She’s been struggling to afford her bills ever since.

Eve, 35, is a survivor of domestic violence and a single mum.  She used to work as a carer but suffers from mental illness and can’t afford childcare. She receives Universal Credit and disability benefits, but it isn’t enough to cover the basics.  She usually only eats one meal a day: “it’s more important my daughter eats,” she adds.

“I grew up poor – in some sense you appreciate things more.  This Half Term my daughter is quite happy to go to the park and have a sandwich, we don’t need any elaborate cinema trips.  We borrow children’s clothes and equipment from Little Village and I buy from charity shops – even the charity shops in Hackney are becoming too overpriced!

“The school parent group is constantly fundraising for this or that or I’ll be asked for money for a trip.  I feel embarrassed and awkward when I can’t afford it. I’ve got friends who are living in horrific conditions.”

Eve describes Hackney Foodbank as: “amazing and so welcoming.”  As well as her standard emergency food parcel, they provide her with nappies, wet wipes, jars of baby food and fresh fruit and vegetables.

She said: “The food bank is a life saver some weeks – I don’t know what we would do without them.”

To support the No Child Left Hungry campaign, visit bit.ly/no-child-left-hungry