Cost of living crisis: Sheffield man left with no shower, lights or heating for five days due to money worries

“Things are going to get worse, I don’t think I’ll survive the winter and nobody is bothered,” one man told Helen Eadon, at the Link Community Hub which provides lifeline support for people on the Stradbroke estate.

Ms Eadon told the stories of people she had helped during a full council meeting this week as examples of how many were suffering with the crisis which has seen the costs of fuel, electricity, food and other essentials rocket.

She said many who used prepayment meters for electricity were immediately hit when prices shot up and maxed out their budget.

One man was left without power – meaning no showers, lights, heating or other basic facilities – for at least five days as a result.

“The first thing he said to me was ‘Helen, don’t stand so close because I stink’", Ms Eadon said. “And he did smell because he’d not been able to bathe or wash his clothes.

“This chap is going to have to go home and eat cold beans and cold soup in a cold flat (because he has no power).”

He told her: “If I knew this was going on for four weeks I’d be able to get through but people are telling me that things are going to get worse. Things in the winter are going to get worse. I don’t think I’ll survive the winter and nobody is bothered.”

Starving

In just seven days Ms Eadon issued 25 emergency food parcels, on top of referrals to food banks.

Of those receiving the emergency parcels, four had gone more than one day without eating and one woman had gone four days without eating.

“She came to me via council housing officers,” Ms Eadon said. “She couldn’t get a food parcel anywhere so we made her a food parcel. This is something we are seeing more and more. These extreme poverty levels are rising.”

She said the situation was a “ticking time bomb” and people would not be able to survive the winter.

What is Sheffield Council doing about the cost of living crisis?

Ms Eadon told councillors: “Tonight when I go home I’m going to feel how lucky I am to be able to just go to my fridge and get something to eat. And you are all lucky too. Those of us who are lucky should help those who aren’t lucky because that is the right thing to do.”

She then asked what was being done to support those impacted by the cost of living crisis and what more will be done in winter.

Councillor Terry Fox, leader of the council, said actions the authority had taken included giving £200,000 to support food banks, giving £5.2 million to support housing tenants, and providing food vouchers during school holidays.

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Going forwards, he said the authority would meet regularly over summer to address the crisis and prepare for winter including looking at using community buildings as ‘warm banks’ where people can get out of the cold.

He said: “I don’t know how some people are surviving at this moment in time and we will do anything we can do, we will not yield from that.”