A single dad of six says he has been left struggling to afford school shoes for his children as the price of everything rises in the cost of living crisis. Gaz Kaye, who is helping run a Warm Space for others who aren't able to afford heating, says he has had to change the way he lives and think about every penny he spends.
He says it makes him feel like he is failing as a father, reports GrimsbyLive. Gaz's children are aged between three and 11. He said: "There doesn't seem to be one specific thing that is really hurting me, it's just everything. Even just a loaf of bread has gone up, I don't know how people can make it through the day.
"Everything adds up, but running the car is probably the thing that is the biggest issue. With a big family, I need a big car, but a small engine. I'm not poor by any means in my mind, but with the way things are I feel like I probably am right now, but surely it can't stay like this?"
He added: "The last few weeks I've realised I'm maybe not as capable of doing what I did. I'm looking at my finances all the time and having to think about every penny I spend. When things started to go wrong, we made sure to book in for Christmas and do all the presents in June.
"It's the only way we could have done it, but sadly some people will still have all that to sort. The model of how we live our lives has changed and as a father of six I've had to change a lot to make it work. That alone massively plays on my mind."
Gaz recently found he was unable to afford new school shoes for one of his children, which led to them wearing trainers. He was spoken to by teachers, who asked him to buy his son new shoes.
Gaz said: "As a single father, I'm not always able to do that straight away. Things like this make me feel like I'm just failing as a father. It's even come to the point where my child wanted some new trainers and rather than buy them new I had to buy them on Facebook Marketplace."
He said: "Kids can't seem to have anything these days, bar the basics, because of what life is costing. I know people who are selling laptops just to feed their children.
"It's getting worse and worse the longer it goes on and if it's this bad now, what will it be like in 10 years time for my children? It's so frustrating that we can turn a light bulb on from the other side of the world or send people to space, but we can't feed our kids.
"We're in a system that isn't working. A Cost of Living payment is great, but it just shouldn't be a thing. Getting what are in effect hand outs makes people feel awful and it's scary to wonder how long this might go on for. I can't carry on like this, but there doesn't seem to be any change in sight and that is really upsetting."
