Good afternoon. Isabella here. Welcome to Survival Guide.

It’s just over a week since Rishi Sunak announced an unexpectedly early general election.

As rain fell against his suit, the prime minister admitted to the nation “it might still be hard when you look at your bank balance”, days after he was named one of the country’s richest people in The Sunday Times Rich List, having amassed more wealth than King Charles.

Things Can Only Get Better played in the background, synonymous with Labour’s landslide 1997 win, but the reality is things can and will get worse unless the next government takes urgent action to alleviate poverty and destitution in the UK.

There are more than 14 million people in the UK living in poverty, including four million children. The number of children living in absolute poverty has risen at its highest rate in 30 years. 

It is time for change. I spoke to Helen Barnard of the Trussell Trust about how the next government could go about ending poverty in the UK. Read it here.

At the heart of the statistics are real human stories of people who are struggling to survive. In this week’s newsletter, we meet James, whose salary as a trainee bus driver left him skipping meals and desperate. 

We find hope in the community projects doing their bit to help people, like the boxing gym in Bristol supporting marginalised young people. We’ve also got all the places kids can eat free this half term if you read to the end…

If you have a story to share, we want to listen. Get in touch at isabella.mcrae@bigissue.com or share your story here.

James's story: ‘I was desperate’

James Rossi was desperate when he started taking out loans to cover his bills. His salary as a trainee bus driver was failing to stretch and he was skipping meals to afford rent.

The loans meant he could survive and feed his family, but he had no way of paying them back. Eventually, he racked up debt worth around £46,000 because of soaring interest.

“I just stuck my head in the sand for a period of time,” the father of three says.

James started as a bus driver around 14 years ago. During the training, James says he was only earning around £800 a month. 

“It wasn’t covering the rent or anything else. I had no debt at the time. I had a good record with the bank, so I asked for a loan.”

The bank would not loan him any money because he had no property, so he had to try other means. He discovered payday loans, short-term loans for small sums of money.

“I was desperate. I didn’t want to give up the job,” James says. “I just did what I had to do. I borrowed the money to pay the rent and the council tax and struggled through. 

“It was a nightmare. I would go to work some days and not eat anything all day, because I didn’t have money for lunch. It was ridiculous.”

Read James’s story.

In case you missed it

Why the general election could and should be fought on the frontier of poverty. Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak could be ignoring an 'untapped pool of support' without clear policies on poverty. Read more.

From the NHS to levelling up: Here are all the broken promises after 14 years of Tory rule. Successive prime ministers have vowed sweeping changes to housing, health, poverty and immigration. Have they delivered? Find out.

Energy bills are set to fall but UK families have already lost £72bn to 'staggering' prices. Do you still feel worse off in spite of energy bills falling? It's no surprise. Get the story.

Four million Brits struggle with problem debt. Now's the time for the next government to step up. Vicki Brownridge, chief executive of StepChange, writes about why it’s so important politicians commit to tackling financial vulnerability for good. Read more.

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How a boxing gym is giving marginalised young people a fighting chance

Before joining the boxing gym that helped her turn her life around, 19-year-old Kierah remembers that “school was the worst time of my life”. 

Empire Fighting Chance is a Bristol-based boxing gym and youth charity. Many of the teens attending are struggling to find their place in the world. Some face exclusion from school, others have difficult home lives or mental health issues that slip through the cracks of an crumbling NHS.

Facing bullying and insurmountable pressures at school, Kierah’s attendance dropped and she started getting into trouble. That’s when her school referred her to Empire.

Unlike regular talk therapy or mentoring, which can sometimes make young people feel like they’re under the microscope, Empire’s approach is to pair mentorship with sports training. 

“It was good because I was an angry kid. I’d just come down and smash it out,” Kierah remembers. Read the full story.

Saving those coins: Where kids eat free this half term

The school holidays come with extra costs. Childcare can often be expensive, and the government does not directly fund free school meals out of term time.

That’s why we always like to highlight all the places where kids can eat free over the break.

It’s worth pointing out that many of these are not quite free. You often have to buy a full adult’s meal alongside, which won’t always work out the cheapest, so it’s worth checking the terms and conditions before you apply because some of these offers are better than others.

At Asda, for example, you don’t have to buy an adult’s meal alongside it. And at Ikea, kids’ meals are as low as 95p.

Here are all the places kids can eat free or for just £1.