Girl, 7, who eats so little ‘you can see her ribcage’ among children needing help in cost of living crisis

The cost of living crisis is having a deeply damaging impact on children’s play, with parents living on the breadline electing to cut back on children’s leisure activities, according to a west London community group.

Susan Rudnik, founder and CEO of Latimer Community Art Therapy (LCAT), which provides art psychotherapy in 16 schools and runs a community centre on the Henry Dickens estate for children living in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, said: “The impact of tightening budgets means many parents cannot afford to take their children anywhere that is not free.”

The 45-year-old arts psychotherapist who also lectures at Goldsmith’s, University of London, added: “Stressed parents are less available physically and mentally and can’t engage children in a fun way. Children in turn want their parents to feel less tense and so they put their needs on the backburner so as not to stress mum and dad.”

And so it is that every Saturday morning, before LCAT staff even open the centre, children come knocking, asking for food, having not wanted to ask for it at home.

Faye Murray, 42, a mother of six children who works part-time at the centre, said: “They know we’re not open but they haven’t had breakfast and are hungry, so we invite them in and give them some fruit and toast. Children are honest. When they are hungry, they grab food with urgency. We are seeing a lot of that.”

Faye, who lives with her partner, a self-employed welder, and their children in a flat on the estate and relies on universal credit to top up their joint income, said: “We are better off than many families who use this centre but we, too, feel the impact of this crisis.

“Our electricity is on a pre-paid meter and whenever it’s about to run out, the meter starts to beep. It means a dash down to the Co-op to charge up the key, often at night, and then returning to a pitch black flat, flashlight at the ready.”

She added: “Sometimes when I am cooking there is this loud ‘donk’ sound and everything goes out and you think, good Lord, has the electricity gone again? Other times I am working here at the centre and one of my kids comes charging through the door shouting, ‘The electricity’s gone, the electricity’s gone’ and I am like, ‘You’re joking!’ It stops you in your tracks. You think – is this actually happening to me in 2022?”

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Faye tells her children: “If you’re cold, it’s bed-socks, dressing gowns and pyjamas.” Her strategy is “heat the person, not the room”. The only time they turn on the gas is to get hot water for the shower and washing up.

Unexpected expenses bring stress. “If one of my kids needs new trainers, it fills me with dread. Recently my 11-year-old lost his coat. I couldn’t afford a new one and shopped around for weeks until I found one at half-price for £9.”

Another parent whose children attend LCAT, Simone, 47, a single mother of six of whom three live at home, said her son, a bursary student at The Royal Ballet School, “constantly needs ballet shoes, leotards and tights, as well as money to travel and socialise”, but it is not cash she can lay hands on.

The part-time cleaner said: “I run out of money about ten days before I get paid at the end of the month and have to turn to my mum for help with basics like food shopping.

“I started using a food bank once a week, although I feel a bit guilty because there are people more in need. I told the children we can’t afford new clothes, that we now rely on charity shops.

“We don’t have freedom to replace things – like our washing machine broke down and we used our neighbour’s one until I saved enough to club together with my older kids to buy a new one for £400. It’s hand-to-mouth living with no buffer. It makes you anxious.”

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Jessica, 28, a care worker whose seven-year-old sister frequents LCAT, said: “We live five of us in a two-bedroom flat and I share a room with my sister. I worry that if somebody eats too much at dinner there won’t be enough to go around. I’d rather my little sister eats.

“She doesn’t want to stress me and her mum so she doesn’t eat much and she’s lost so much weight recently. You can see her ribcage. I make sure she eats more and that means I eat less. I had a cheeseburger from McDonald’s today. That’s my food for the day.”

For children like Jessica’s sister, LCAT is a home-from-home where she enjoys cooking, crafts, football, table tennis and arts therapy – and occasional trips to cinemas and adventure centres. Formed in the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, LCAT has become a much-loved outlet.

But with a sharp rise in children attending, Ms Rudnik said their resources were being stretched.

She added: “A grant from your christmas appeal would make an enormous difference to organisations like ours.

“We support 1,070 children a year on a budget of £650,000 and with attendance of our youth club up by 33 per cent, we need more staff. Your appeal comes at a hugely opportune time.”

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Our Cost of Living Christmas Appeal, On the Breadline, has partnered with Comic Relief and The Childhood Trust, a charity that helps children in poverty in London.

Donations made into our partnership with The Childhood Trust will be given out in grants to organisations that help children in poverty in London.

Donations made into our partnership with Comic Relief will go to organisations across the UK (including London) helping people on the breadline of all ages cope with the cost of living.

To help children affected by the cost of living crisis who live in London, donate here.

To help children and communities affected by the cost of living crisis wherever they live in the UK, donate here.