For Amie from East Lincolnshire, the thought of having to go to a food bank again has been on her mind for the past six months.
The 45-year-old is a single parent to two children, ages 12 and 14, and says money is a constant worry as she tries to make ends meet.
She has been privately renting since 2017, after having to sell her home following the end of a relationship, and currently pays £750 a month for her house – with total expenses coming to £2,300 a month.
Amie said: “I’ve made sure that whatever happens, the kids are doing stuff. I still strive to make sure that is covered so they don’t really suffer. I will take on all the worries and let everybody else think we are alright.”
She does part-time work involving food advocacy but also receives Universal Credit with her income totalling £2,400 a month.
Amie says she has become resourceful when money has been tight and says in the background she is always trying to either get more work to bring in more money.
“Some days we will look in the fridge and there isn’t enough food, so I have built up resourceful skills and will see what is in the cupboard. I will make something work,” she explained.
Since moving into private renting, Amie said her family has had to build resilience to manage tricky expenses.
“We are big fans of putting blankets on rather than having the heating on. We have spent nearly nine years of resilience-building,” she explained.
Amie has used food banks in the past and says she may be on the brink of having to use one again but is worried about what people will think.
She said: “There shouldn’t be a stigma attached to it, and anybody that needs to go should, but I don’t want to go because I think people will say, ‘why is she having to go back there?’
“But I’m really considering it because if food is the thing that we’re not purchasing because we haven’t got enough money, then that’s the only way of getting it.”
Amie would love to be able to own another house but says she just has no way of saving while renting.
“There is no way of putting that extra money towards the deposit. I was using the government’s help to save scheme and was putting in about £50 a month, which then helped me to pay off my overdraft,” she says. “But now when I think about putting away £50, I think to myself that money could buy us a few more meals for the weekend.”
Amie is not alone. Almost nine million people are at risk of needing a food bank in the next year as many households continue to battle with rising living costs, according to research from anti-poverty charity Trussell, which also found 11 per cent of people have had to cut back on food in the previous three months to afford essentials like housing costs, transport, or heating.
And 12 per cent have had to turn to loans, credit, or informal support from friends or family to meet their children’s needs in the past six months.
The research from Trussell found certain groups, such as disabled people, families with children and private renters, were more likely to go without food.
In fact, 30 per cent of private renters had run out of food and couldn’t afford to buy more compared with 20 per cent on average.
‘I couldn’t turn the heating on’
Kim, in Gateshead, northeast England, recently had to move in with a friend after living in poor conditions in a string of private rented accommodations.
The 37-year-old says she previously had private landlords who refused to fix mould and damp in homes she lived in.
In her most recent flat, Kim was sharing the £750-a-month rent, but then moved in with a friend in August this year.
“I wasn’t able to use the heating and I’m struggling to even be able to afford basic things. I couldn’t afford to travel anywhere, so I had to walk places, which wasn’t good for me as I suffer from chronic back pain,” Kim explained.
She is currently looking for another flat to rent but says everything she is seeing is too out of her budget and would stretch her already struggling finances.
The absolute maximum she would be able to afford is £750 a month sharing with another person.
Kim receives £800 a month on Universal Credit and is worried for the future if costs continue to rise.
“I have visited a food bank in the past, and depending on what happens with prices, it may be something I do need to consider again in the future.
“I’m just worried I won’t be able to afford to rent again, and I won’t be able to afford to pay for food or bills. How on earth am I going to live?” she said.
Campaign group Generation Rent, alongside Trussell, is calling on the government to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the upcoming Budget.
LHA is the amount of benefit that private renters get to help with rent, with the rates frozen since April 2024.
Helen Barnard, director of policy and research at Trussell, said: “Nobody should be forced to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table. But for increasing numbers of UK renters, this is already a bleak reality. Keeping Local Housing Allowance frozen while rents rise is driving people to food banks.
“That’s why we are calling on the prime minister to give renters ‘breathing space’ now by permanently reconnecting Local Housing Allowance with the cheapest 30 per cent of local rents.”