This Challenge Poverty week, Corra is sharing stories from Henry Duncan Grant funded charities. Challenge Poverty week is an opportunity to change the conversation about poverty, end the stigma and show support for solutions. Find out more at: https://www.challengepoverty.net/
Moray School Bank is a charity that offers school uniform and warm winter items to children experiencing poverty right across Moray. The service was designed from the feedback of parents and teachers locally and was based on the needs of children and families.This blog was written by a young person supported by Moray School Bank.
I am 14-year-old girl, I have two older sisters and two younger brothers, and I live at home with one of my sisters, my brothers and my mum and dad. Dad is ill and Mum does most things for us all.
We don’t have a lot of money. Mum tries her best to make sure we have everything we need and does her best to not show that she is struggling. It can sometimes be embarrassing when friends are making plans to go shopping at the weekend. While making plans they say, “let’s all meet up and go on the bus to have a day in Elgin, we can go shopping and go to McDonalds”. I know that I probably won’t be able to do that, so I just think of an excuse not to the able to go because I don’t want to ask Mum for money. I know she will try to give me it, but I know it has to be cut from somewhere else.
When I was younger and we went shopping I used to ask for the beans in the blue tin or the digestives in the red packets like my friends have at their house, but mum would say not, we like the ones in the white packet, they taste better, or they white ones are Daddy’s favourite.
Mum always had her list and sometimes we didn’t get to the freezer bit and mum would say ‘it’s ok we have everything’ but now I know that we bought the white packs because they are the cheap ones and we didn’t get to the freezer part because Mum had no money left in her purse.
Lockdown for us was actually a good time, we are actually used to spending time at home, playing board games, watching DVD’s, building dens, having picnics. No-one could ask me, so I didn’t need to ask mum for money. We may be a family with not a lot of money, but I know we are rich because we love each other.
