Sharon is a single mum to 14-year-old twins. She is a teacher at a London university.  

Sharon is typical of the growing number of single parents who are calling our helpline and getting in touch online. Single parents who had been managing to raise their children on one income, until the cost of living crisis hit.  

She didn’t expect to be providing a home for her children on her own.  

“Sadly, during the pandemic, my relationship with their dad ended. It was a very difficult time for us all. I had started to think that, as awful as it was, we are through it now – and we are free. Or so I thought. 

But for the first time in my adult life, I don’t have enough money to last the month. 

I feel shocked to be in this position. I have a good job. But my pay has nowhere near kept up with inflation, let alone with the runaway rising costs of food, housing and heat.”

Much as she enjoys being a mum of twins, she now feels terrified, financially. She is going without meals at the end of the month so that the twins can eat.  

As teenagers, they see the news. They know what is going on in the country and how it is affecting their family. Sharon has had conversations with them about what she has cut to keep their family warm and fed. One worries about the cost of their bills and the other one wants her to keep their pocket money for essentials.  

“It makes me cross that I’m having to have these conversations with my 14-year-old children. They’ve had enough trauma and difficulties in their lives in recent times, without having to worry about me or whether they can take their pocket money.”

The cost of living crisis is creating extraordinary circumstances for everyone. But for single parents on a limited income, it is pushing their families into crisis.  

Our Christmas Appeal is raising money for single parents like Sharon. We want to make sure no single parent is alone in these difficult winter months.   

Donate today and every £1 you give will be doubled until we reach a target of £20,000.