Handsworth mum's heartbreaking lies to kids as she visits food bank in secret

Mother-of-three plays games with her kids to distract them when the power goes off and says they don't know about money worries

A disabled mum said she was forced to light candles at night and visit food banks in secret because she could not afford her energy bills. The Handsworth mother-of-three said she struggled to afford energy while supporting her three children who also lived with disabilities.

A single mother, her story reveals the impact disability has on fuel poverty, where an individual's income is left below the official poverty line once they have paid to heat their home. Despite living in a comfortable home and having some support, the mum, whom we have not named, is often unable to top up her pre-payment meters.

This leaves the family cold or left in the dark, with the mum claiming her disabilities made it hard for her to understand finances or ask for help. She said she had lived with mental illness since childhood and suffered abuse at the hands of an ex-husband. She had also been in and out of care homes, she said.

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Disability charity Sense revealed disabled people were more likely to be in fuel poverty than non-disabled people.

The 47-year-old said: "I have schizophrenia, split personalities, depression, anxiety, arthritis and a slipped disc. I moved house because of my kids and it was hard, I cannot read or write and get help from dictionaries.

"I can speak English but it doesn't register in my brain, when I talk on the phone for appointments I don't understand them. I can't understand letters or phone calls so I need to talk to people face to face.

"I have always had support workers but since I moved here I stopped getting them. I believe people like me, with learning disabilities, are not treated right when people find out about us. There are a lot of women like me.

"I get a lot of support from Nishkam Centre, they are amazing, but I need 24-hour support like how to book appointments or budgeting. I am bad with money, I will spend it and not know how much I have left.

"I don't want my kids ending up like me."

Her 16-year-old daughter is partially deaf, her 11-year-old son has learning difficulties and autism and her eight-year-old son has ADHD. All require regular medical check-ups, but the mother insisted they did not know about their money problems.

Her health issues prevent her from working and she receives PIP and Employment Support Allowance. If the meter runs out and the family is left with no electricity or heating, she said she distracted them with make-believe playtime.

She will make them camp downstairs with blankets and candles, as they tell scary stories in the dark. She will lie and say someone is coming to repair the electricity or leave the kids with a friend as she visits the food bank secretly.

When she couldn't afford their school uniforms she was forced to ask her ex-husband to pay for them. She also said they had never been on a holiday as she struggled to plan them.

She continued: "I wish I could work but I know I can't, I always wanted to do something. I just need a support worker to tell me what to do. Someone nice and understanding who will listen to you.

"I know single parents don't speak up because some support workers are nasty to them, just any support for my family."

Naz receives some help from Nishkam Centre, a community outreach organisation supporting people through the energy crisis. According to Sense, there are 1.6 million people with complex disabilities in the UK living with two or more disabilities, and often requiring high levels of support.

Latest statistics show 42 per cent of people with complex disabilities couldn't afford to keep their home adequately warm. And a third of people with complex disabilities ran out of food and couldn't afford to buy more.

Nearly half, 49 per cent, of people with complex disabilities found it difficult to pay their energy bills, compared to 41 per cent of the general public.

Tom Marsland, policy manager at Sense, said: "Rising energy costs have put disabled people under huge pressure. Disabled households tend to use more energy, from powering wheelchairs and hoists, to using extra heating and fans to regulate body temperature.

"These extra costs are simply unavoidable, and as a result we are seeing an alarming number of households struggling to pay bills, being pushed into debt and turning to food banks. The energy price cap rising from this month deals yet another blow to disabled families, who have already been feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis for years.

"Disabled people are more likely to be in fuel poverty than non-disabled people, and we know it's not just extra energy bills that can hit hard. There are also the extra costs associated with specialist diets, insurances, therapies and accessible transport that disabled people need to contend with.

"Before the cost-of-living crisis hit, seven in ten disabled people had less than £1,500 in savings to weather the storm. Now the crisis is worsening, debts are rising and the government isn't doing enough to help.

"Temperatures are dropping as we're approaching winter, but there's no further targeted support in place, despite the change of government. There is no end in sight and we need the government to do more, including the introduction of a social tariff for energy that recognises the higher energy costs disabled people face."