Over the last year, the Manchester Evening News' Paige Oldfield has visited towns across Greater Manchester to find out how people are coping with the cost of living crisis. During that time, she met a man who hadn’t eaten for three days. She consoled a sobbing mother forced to light her home using candles.
But this visit to Oldham has been among the most harrowing. It took just minutes for someone to break down when asked about rising bills, while a disabled woman described being trapped upstairs for hours on end, afraid to use the mobility scooter and stair lift on which she depends.
There's hope among the gloom - a woman waiting for the factory job that will make all the difference this winter, the coming energy discount - but the fear on the streets, about the winter ahead, is palpable. There's a weary resignation too. The sense that people feel their voice won't be heard whatever happens. "It's not going to improve if I speak up," as one mother puts it.
