Laura hopes other parents can reach out for help and not feel ashamed (Picture: James Speakman/PA)
When Laura Maggs was struggling to put food on the table, she admits she felt a ‘very British’ pressure to ‘suffer in silence.’
Shopping lists were trimmed and even her children’s favourite fruit – strawberries – had to be taken off, due to sky-rocketing prices of groceries. The family went without other items deemed ‘luxury’, like meat, fish and sweet treats.
While they had never been well-off, suddenly Laura and her partner, Ryan, found themselves in a financial situation they’d never been in before.
It’s an issue facing families across the UK, with people turning to foodbanks, making difficult decisions about loved ones or even stealing to survive.
For Laura, 39, she’s seen the phrase ‘you shouldn’t have kids if you can’t afford them’ in internet comment sections.
‘It’s such a callous, unfeeling thing to say – and easy to say when you have come from a position of financial security. Saying “it’s your own fault, you did this to yourself, how dare you complain about things you graciously get, if you worked harder this wouldn’t have happened” is a very draconian way of thinking.
‘People can struggle with money for all sorts of reasons. Instead of passing judgment, we need to spend more time discussing feasible, workable, long term solutions as opposed to trying to avoid the blame or lay the blame.’
The cost of living crisis meant Laura and her family had to make drastic changes to their shopping list
(Picture: Getty Images)
Before she fell into financial difficulty, Laura, had enjoyed a ‘normal’ childhood and was ‘ticking along’ as an adult, despite being from a low-income family. She worked as a playworker in a local primary school and her partner Ryan was a personal trainer and strongman, gearing up for England’s Strongest Man qualifiers.
But despite their two salaries, putting food on the table each week still required a bit of mental mathematics.
Laura, who has an 18-year-old, six-year-old and three-year-old, adds: ‘In 2019 we were living with relatives, trying to save up for a place of our own, so things weren’t easy. I’d heard other mums chat about some sort of project called the Bread and Butter Thing and, being from a low income family, I thought it sounded like a good idea.’
The initiative Laura had learned about centred on a group of mobile food clubs which bring nutritious and affordable food into communities with less access to money, food and resources. From 2018, Laura would finish work and go collect three bags of food, £8.50 in total, from the charity’s Sale Moor hub, for herself and her parents.
She admits it was a huge relief from cooking bland meals ‘because she had to’, to being able to use fresh vegetables, herbs and new ingredients in the kitchen.
‘It wasn’t just the food, it was also the mental and emotional knowledge that you’re going to be okay that week,’ Laura adds.
When the Covid pandemic hit, the Bread and Butter Thing became more than a cost-saving hack. The charity was a lifeline for people like Laura.
The situation, by numbers
In 2023, a YouGov poll found that 14% of all Britons had to skip meals in the last 12 months because they could not afford to eat.
What’s more, 24% of British parents with children under the age of 18 said they have missed meals in order to afford to feed their children instead.
At this point, her family was in temporary accommodation while awaiting a place on a housing trust list. Laura’s parents were disabled and high-risk, and she had feared passing Covid to them and felt the need to move out. Indeed, it was weeks into the pandemic when the virus reached her.
She remembers: ‘My partner Ryan was incredibly fit and strong, and had been the type of man who would catch a 24 hour bug and shake it off after a few hours. He was one of those irritating people who never got sick. But when he caught Covid, I’d never seen anything like it. It was a horrible experience to see him so ill, I was genuinely so scared. He was in hospital for a month because it completely destroyed his lungs.
‘Soon my middle daughter caught it, then I did. I didn’t know at the time, but I was actually in the early stages of pregnancy when I caught Covid. So that added a lot of stress that year as Ryan wasn’t able to come with me to appointments.’
Laura, who gave birth to her youngest in November 2020, returned to work in September 2021 after her maternity leave came to an end.
‘But I only lasted three days as I felt so tired and foggy,’ she says. ‘I knew something was wrong. I went to my doctor, was diagnosed with Long Covid and put on long term sick leave.
‘We weren’t bringing in much of a wage at all now, and the Bread and Butter Thing was a lifeline. It was the difference between feeding just the children, or feeding the entire family. If I hadn’t accessed it, there would have been lots of days where Ryan and I went hungry. It was quite literally a lifesaver.’
Laura, who now lives in her own home in Bowdon Vale in Manchester, now volunteers with the initiative’s Altrincham hub, as a way to regain some confidence and people skills.
Laura at the launch of the UK’s first ever Seasonings Shuttle service created by Sainsbury’s for its Nourish the Nation programme with Comic Relief (Picture: James Speakman/PA)
She hopes to re-enter full-time work when she’s fit and able. Laura adds: ‘Ryan and I take it a day at a time, dealing with good days and bad as the come. We are doing what we can do keep healthy and recover fully.’
Laura has volunteered alongside the Spice Shuttle service, created via a partnership between Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief to make sure that those experiencing food insecurity have access to good food, without having to compromise on taste.
As part of the supermarket’s Nourish the Nation programme, the Seasonings Shuttle has provided over 1,600 food club members in Manchester with products they wouldn’t usually receive, such as herbs and spices.
Laura explains that she still uses the Bread and Butter Thing while she and Ryan are on universal credit. She likes to ‘giveback’ through her volunteering, while hoping to give encouragement to parents who might ‘feel like they’ve failed’ financially.
‘I think a lot of people still think there’s a stigma of being in a low income situation, even though most of the time it’s through no fault of their own,’ Laura says.
‘It can be hard to admit “I’m struggling.” But it’s not something you need to feel ashamed of. If you’re relying on a foodbank or a charity it doesn’t mean you’ve failed or haven’t done enough. There’s no failure in supporting your family and doing what you need to do.’
To find out more about the Bread and Butter Thing, click here
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