Whenever school holidays are approaching, mum-of-four Amanda Barnsley experiences a feeling of dread as she does not know how she will afford to feed her children.
Amanda, 35, who lives in Braintree, Essex, told The i Paper that costs are particularly challenging for her family as three of her children have additional needs and they are managing on a single income since her husband, Daniel, became too unwell to work.
Amanda says on top of worrying about how to feed her children, Christopher, 14, RJ, eight, Rylee, six and Tyler, four, their health conditions and additional needs mean extra costs too.
“My eldest Christopher has ADHD and RJ has severe autism and ADHD and Rylee has autism as well,” she explained. “RJ is the worst affected and has sensory issues which means he chews on his coats, T-shirts and jumpers.
“I bought him a brand new school coat just before they went back in January and I already need to buy a new one as he has chewed it so much. It costs me around £500 a year just to replace his chewed clothes.
“RJ also has an issue with his feet where they turn inwards, so his shoes get worn down very quickly, so we end up having to buy him a new pair every couple of months. We had to buy 10 identical pairs of shoes in one school year as he is very specific about what he wears.”
When it comes to food, Amanda says that the medication her eldest son is on for his ADHD makes him hungrier and RJ also eats a lot, and Rylee will only eat certain foods. While school breakfast clubs and free school meals help out during term time, she says school holidays are financially intense.
Amanda Barnsley with her six-year-old son Rylee, who will only eat certain foods due to his autism“RJ, because of his autism, doesn’t have a stop button and he will eat continuously,” she said. “Rylee, my six-year-old, due to his autism, will only eat certain foods, which are more expensive. I can’t buy cheaper brands as he will know the difference and not eat it. If I get a cheap version of Weetabix, he will know it is not the branded version.
“I have to spend around £400 a month on food, but school holidays are the worst time and I dread them.
“During the summer holidays last year, I calculated that I spent £1,000 on food alone.”
Amanda, who is a wellbeing activities co-ordinator at a retirement village, says things have been particularly difficult since her husband, a gardener, became unwell with painful stomach issues last April and has been unable to work and is undergoing investigations.
‘I’ve had to rely on food banks when times get hard’
Shelley Graham, 34, a single mum of three who lives just outside Belfast, says her budget is stretched tight, particularly during the school holidays when meal costs rise.
Shelley, mother to Meyah, nine, Kalli, seven and Bella, six, explains her eldest daughter is autistic and her strict brand-specific diet adds extra costs to the shopping.
Shelley was working in a cafe, but had to leave as due to her daughter’s additional needs, she kept getting calls from the school asking her to pick her up when she would not settle. Since then, Shelley has been relying on universal credit and says things have been a lot tougher financially.
“Meyah eats things like Birds Eye chicken dippers and will only eat that brand. She likes everything to be repetitive and if the packaging changes, she won’t eat it. So I try to stock up.
Shelley Graham, a single mum of three, says her budget is stretched tight, particularly during the school holidays when meal costs rise“When times have been hard, I have had to rely on food banks. While I am not ungrateful as I appreciated the help, food banks normally give cupboard food such as pasta and soups. While my other two can have this, Meyah will not eat it which makes life difficult.
“During term time, my children get free school meals so when they are on school holidays, that is an extra meal a day that needs providing. On top of that, like all children, they want snacks throughout the day.”
Both Amanda and Shelley are now using Iceland Food Club, which is delivered in partnership with not-for-profit lender Fair for You, to get them through the challenging school holiday period.
The scheme works by providing an initial interest-free loan of up to £75 to eligible applicants, loaded onto a pre-paid card for use in-store or online at Iceland or The Food Warehouse, an additional supermarket offered by Iceland.
The loan is repaid at £10 per week, helping families spread the cost of essentials without falling into a cycle of debt.
Returning customers can load up to £100 onto their Food Club card during school holiday top-up windows, once they have paid back their previous loan.
A total of 40,000 families have used the scheme and an independent impact report from the Centre for Responsible Finance has revealed that customers saved an estimated £2m by avoiding high interest credit and it led to a 77 per cent reduction in food bank usage. It also led to a 74 per cent drop in borrowing from illegal lenders.
Amanda said: “It makes life a lot easier over school holidays as I don’t have to pay upfront for a big food shop and can pay it off bit by bit.
“Before Iceland Food Club, I had to reluctantly give my children low quality foods such as biscuits and chocolates to keep them full, but now I can buy the fruit and raisins that they like.”
Shelley said: “It helps me spread the cost of my shopping and gives me breathing room when the cost of living for everything is going up so much.”
Programmes offering families help during the school holidays include the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme run by some local authorities. These provide healthy meals, activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning.
Organisations like Feeding Britain often run holiday meal projects and charity FairShare works to redistribute food to holiday projects across the UK.
Families in immediate need can get referrals from schools, GP surgeries or housing associations to food banks.
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