Two Leeds mums raising their kids on one of the city's most deprived estates have spoken out about their fears living on the breadline.
Debbie Furniss and Timnit Ghebremicael both live on the Lincoln Green estate near St James' Hospital in Leeds. Journalist Fergal Keane returned to the estate for his new BBC show 'Brave Britain' to see how communities were coping with the country's economic situation.
Lincoln Green was built in the 1960s in the hopes of getting low income families into housing, but Fergal described how it had instead become "haunted by poverty and drugs" when he visited in 2000. The area is within the top three per cent of the most deprived area in England.
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Debbie grew up in Lincoln Green, and is now raising her seven-year-old daughter Emily and caring for her disabled partner on the estate. She also has a child at university and one in college, and receives benefits.
"I've managed to keep my head above water all these years," Debbie told Fergal, "I don't know how, but I've done it."
Debbie quit school when she was 14 to care for her dad after he started experiencing issues with his lungs. He was later diagnosed with lung cancer.
"We get called scum; we get called all the names under the sun because we're Benefit Britain and that's seen as the lowest of the low. We do try hard but we are held within the bounds of health conditions or other responsibilities," Debbie explained.
"It's not by choice that we're on the breadline. It's frightening. It really is. The amount you get coming in doesn't reflect the amount prices are going up. It does cause a lot of sleepless nights for me."
Debbie uses her spare time to volunteer at a local food bank helping others feel more food secure. Debbie's older children are progressing in their education in a way she never got too, and little Emily is doing well at school - she told Fergal she's proud of them all.
Speaking about Emily, she said: "I want her to get an education. I want her to have a better life than I've had and get a steady job and be able to afford things in life. I don't want her to have to look after me."
Fergal also attended a flat in one of the high-rises on the estate that has been put under a partial closure order. Sergeant Johnny Attree explained they'd put the order in place due to worries the occupants were vulnerable to 'cuckooing' - when drug dealers take over the addresses of vulnerable people to use as a base of operations.
Three friends living there told Fergal told the estate was "drug-filled" and they were often the subject of stealing. The three said they all tried to look after each other.
Mum of three Timnit moved to the estate 10 years ago when she and her husband left Eritrea. Her three children, aged eight, six and five, are in primary school.
Timnit got one job as a lunch supervisor at a local school, a second job, and is also studying so she can become a teaching assistant. She told Fergal the cost of living crisis has also been difficult for their family, and has left her working constantly and studying hard.
"When you see the bill you can't stop talking about that. After I take the kids to bed I stay up until two in the morning."
But she was hopeful, saying she hoped her children would grow up courageous and strong. Timnit still remembers her first winter in the UK.
"It was the first time we saw snow falling from the sky," she said. "Like in the movies."
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