Christmas will be an IOU... and help from a charity
Our bid to ease families’ plight
AT the start of this year, Natasha Hayes started putting aside what little money she could spare in a tin ready for Christmas.
The mum of four hoped what was not spent on the weekly food shop would enable her to afford treats for her sons.
However, the pandemic came along and upended Natasha’s usual thrifty control of tight family finances.
Now the Christmas tin is empty. As is the case for so many families around the country, this festive season will be tough.
Were it not for the supermarket vouchers she received from Save the Children, there would be no stocking treats for her little boy Joseph, three.
“Without those vouchers I don’t think I would be able to afford any Christmas treats at all,” concedes Natasha, 38.
“My mum is affected too. She has been saying to the children, ‘I will have to give you an IOU note this year!’”
We meet at a help centre on the edge of her home city of Cardiff, Action in Caerau & Ely, which receives vital support from the charity the Mirror is backing for our Christmas appeal.
A few years ago, Natasha’s husband Carl lost his job. The couple often went without food so their children could eat.
Yet despite the hardship, Natasha volunteers at the ACE centre because she wants to give something back to the place that offered her a lifeline.
She helps run a clothes and toy shop stocked with donated items which other struggling locals can take advantage of.
Many came for second-hand school uniforms after the first lockdown.
“We just used to live on tins of soup and crisp sandwiches so the children could eat,” Natasha recalls, still smiling while she keeps Joseph occupied with
some of the donated toys. “As long as the baby was fed and the boys were full, we were happy to go without. It’s still the same today to some extent. We’re happy to just have a sandwich so the boys can have meals. I did have a Christmas tin but when Covid happened I spent all the money on my weekly food shops.”
Natasha and her family received a grant from Save the Children to buy furniture for her children’s bedrooms.
They live in Caerau, a deprived part of Cardiff. Usually the Dusty Forge community centre where we meet – a converted
STILL SMILING pub – would be full of vulnerable local residents, but pandemic restrictions prevent normal opening.
Save the Children works closely with ACE to give out grants to provide families with essential household goods, food vouchers and educational toys and books to boost children’s early learning.
During lockdown the charity was able to provide nearly 80 emergency response grants. “We don’t judge anyone coming through the door because we’ve all been in the same situation,” affirms Natasha.
Nerys Sheehan, senior development officer at ACE, believes life for many has been “incredibly stressful” in lockdown .
Some “frantic families” who pop in break down in tears as they tell of their plight – from concerns over free school meals and home schooling, to workers on furlough or who have lost their jobs.
Nerys says there has been a noticeable rise in people needing donated blankets. Many come to the centre for emergency support just before their gas is cut off as they cannot afford to top up the meter.
She said: “Sadly, there have been many families left without enough income to meet everyday essential living costs.”