“I could make sure my children were well fed during the school holidays.”

Retail assistant Joanne* contacted us when the high cost of childcare left her unable to feed her family during the school holidays.

“My financial situation hadn’t been good for a while due to the rise in the cost of living, then the school summer holidays hit. After paying for childcare there was little to nothing left to feed my two children, who would usually eat three meals a day at school.

“I requested to drop my hours at work, which was approved, but I had to give a month’s notice, leaving me to struggle for one more month. I applied for the council’s household support fund but it was declined because of working over the threshold amount of hours.

“Desperate, I contacted Citizens Advice who referred me to apply for food vouchers from the Retail Trust. I was approved and the vouchers were sent to me very quickly. I did an Asda food shop, filling my fridge, freezer and cupboards. I am so grateful for this one-time support from the Trust. It enabled me to feed my children three nutritional meals a day, taking away the stress of worrying how I was going to feed them.

“Hopefully in a month, when my hours reduce, I will be in a good place again, but this one-off support from the Trust is honestly incredible, I am so, so grateful.”

*Name has been changed