A young couple who recently welcomed their first child has spoken out about the difficulties choosing between eating and heating.
Leonnie Shinells and Jamie Scott from Hull knew they faced tough challenges ahead.
But within weeks of daughter Madison arriving, the cost of living crisis had already hit home.
Jamie's working hours in retail were suddenly cut so much the pair turned off their heating so they had enough money to eat and feed their baby.
Jamie, 21, said: "I know there’s talk at the moment between people having to choose between heating and eating and we’ve literally been in that situation recently.
"It's not a choice any new parents wants to have to make.
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"I work in retail and my hours were cut, so we decided to go without heating."
Leonnie, 19, and Jamie say there is little comfort in the Government's promises of a 10-year plan to level up the North and give 12-week-old Madison the same opportunities as a child born in the relative comfort of the south.
Their story was highlighted by Hull Live in the newspaper's shocking coverage on the cost of living crisis.
A photo of little Maddison featured on the front page with the headline: Don't Leave Us Behind.
"Babies born in Hull in 2022 are likely to be less healthy, less wealthy and less qualified as they grow up compared to those in Michael Gove's Surrey constituency.
"Will his 'levelling up' plan really give these children a fair chance?," the paper asks.
Jamie told the paper: “I don’t feel like there’s been enough support from the council or the NHS.
“There’s no heating in Leonnie’s mum’s flat at the moment, it’s freezing.
“It happened a couple of weeks ago, I work in retail and my hours were cut, so we decided to go without heating.
“We feel like we’re in the early stages of Madison’s life at the moment so we haven’t thought about education too much.
“But we both want to make sure she does as well as she can when she starts school because we’ve both said that not trying when we were there was one of our biggest regrets.
“We didn’t realise what the consequences would be at the time.
“We’ll be encouraging her to try and get a good job as well, we weren’t able to do as well as we liked because we didn’t work hard enough at school.”
Leonnie said: “Health-wise it’s been hard for us, I’ve had support from my family but after 12 weeks I’m still waiting to hear back from the NHS.
“I didn’t really feel listened to during my pregnancy either.
“I’ve felt a bit on my own and living’s difficult when we're at my mums because she’s only got a one bedroom flat."
The Bransholme area in Hull is on paper an area which will benefit from the Government promises delivered by Mr Gove last week to level up some of the North's most deprived towns and cities within the next decade.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the plans heralded the beginning of the end of decades of deprived areas being forgotten and left behind.
The plans, spearheaded by Secretary of State Gove, promises more powers for local areas, better public transport, greater investment and an end to illiteracy and innumeracy.
Levelling up promises to improve parts of the North such as Bransholme, one of the most deprived parts of Hull according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).
The IMD, which scores areas based on education, health, housing, crime, employment, their living environment and access to services, ranks Hull itself as among the most deprived cities in England.
In contrast, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures which compare different places on a range of measures exposes the gulf between Hull and Mr Gove's southern constituency Surrey Heath.
The IMD shows that Madison and other Hull newborns will grow up in a city with the 13th highest levels of income deprivation affecting children.
A baby born in Surrey Heath meanwhile would live in an area which ranks 299th on the same measure.
The Government has promised to close the gap by 2030, but Jamie and Leonnie do not have the luxury of years when it comes to raising Madison.
They said they already felt they had been left to bring up their baby daughter on their own, with worries about work, housing and education a part of daily life.
For both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Levelling Up Secretary Mr Gove, their plans for people like Jamie and Leonnie should give them hope.
The prime minister said: "It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK."
Mr Gove said: "Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery."
