'This is a situation I never thought I'd be in'

DESPAIR OF GRAN STRUGGLING WITH DEBT WHO GOES DAYS WITHOUT FOOD

- PAIGE OLDFIELD

GOING to bed hungry isn’t out of the ordinary for a grandmother of 23. In fact, she can go without food for several days.

It’s not something she does out of choice. The cupboards are bare, she has no money for food and debt collectors are set to visit her home any day now. It’s a never-ending struggle that has seen the 51-year-old spiral into a desperate pit of despair.

“I try and take every day as it comes, but I’ve found myself where I’ve not been able to get out of bed because I can’t see past anything other than the situation I’m in,” the woman, who cares for one of her 23 grandchildren, told the Manchester Evening News.

“I can’t do that because I have a grandson to support. I try and face every struggle as it comes.

“When I think about these things, I just break down, because I don’t know what else to do.”

The gran, who lives in the Leigh area of Wigan and asked to remain anonymous, says she first started really struggling financially last year.

Despite cutting back on everything she could, from walking everywhere to only buying the absolute necessities, the gran soon found herself unable to afford her bills.

“We were really struggling,” the mum said. “Things were getting really hard. Prices were just going up and up.

“I used to comment all the time that you could go into the supermarket for a tub of margarine for £1, then you’d go in the next day and it would be £2. Everything had suddenly doubled.

“I noticed last year that prices were just exceeding to unreal levels and shopping had become a struggle.

“I would walk instead of catching the bus, saving £2 there and £2 back. It wasn’t a lot, just £4 at the end of the day, but it could go towards something. That’s how it started.”