On Friday 13th March 2009 millions of people across Britain tuned in to watch Comic Relief. Over the course of the evening we were brought to tears by horrific stories of families forced to live in horrendous conditions. Malnourished and without any money having to endure day after day of hardship to just survive. Little did we know that there were families on our very own doorsteps having to endure almost the same lifelong struggle against poverty on a daily basis.
One such family, the Chawner’s (BN Wednesday 18th March: “Too Fat to Work”) find everyday a struggle to survive. Forced to live in a house made of bricks, heated only by gas and electricity, the family have just 22thousand pounds a year to live off and regularly find themselves struggling to cope.
Every week Mrs Chawner is forced to walk the long, arduous 2feet across the room to one of the families only two computers and visit asda.com where she can only afford to buy the necessities of microwavable pies, biscuits, bacon, bread and cereal. Meanwhile her daughter, Emma, has to attend a hairdressing course for 12 hours a week, meaning she has no time to do things that other girls her age do, like squat thrusts or eat a salad.
There are families all over Britain suffering in the same way struck down by laziness. We must help them. By pledging just 1pound a day you too can ensure these brave souls don’t have to turn to last ditch measures to survive, such as finding a job.
