A North East mother went without food because of the unexpected cost of paying for a new school uniform for her son after he was bullied at school.

The shocking reality came to light after tenants from a North-East housing association met an MP to help “hammer home” the gravity of the cost-of-living crisis.

North Star Housing arranged for a group of tenants, living in different parts of the region, to meet Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham.

Accompanied by Peter Locke, North Star’s Head of Communities, and Andrea Peacock, Welfare Benefits Officer, the tenants told the MP about some of the problems being faced, including soaring food and fuel costs, inconsistencies in the benefits system, and the impact on mental health.

Mr Locke said: “North Star is on the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis, and we feel it’s vital to do what we can to help politicians of all parties understand the extreme hardships facing many people. It’s about hammering home the message to the Government through our local MPs and Mr Cunningham was the first to respond.”

Andrea Peacock, Welfare Benefits Officer for North Star, described the crisis as the worst she has seen during 11 years with North Star.

“For a lot of people, the situation feels hopeless and their resilience is being tested to the limit. We’ve come straight out of the pandemic, and some people haven’t gone back to work because businesses have failed, so they haven’t had the chance to recover,” she said.

“People are struggling in an unprecedented way and, if they fall marginally short of entitlement for universal credit, there is a major knock-on effect because they don’t then qualify for other support, including free school meals, free health care, and cost of living payments costs. It’s a vicious circle.”

North Star has set aside £200,000 in an emergency fund to support tenants through the crisis and, by the end of the financial year in April, around £20,000 worth of food and heating vouchers will have been allocated from the fund since September. A further £20,000 has been used to enable tenants to buy groceries at community eco-shops on Teesside.

Mrs Peacock told Mr Cunningham: “My team are going into freezing cold houses, where people who are very sick can’t afford to turn on the heating. People are having to sell their belongings at pawn shops just to pay their bills.”

She highlighted the case of one mother who had gone without food because of the unexpected cost of paying for a new school uniform for her son after he was bullied at school.

Mrs Peacock also told the MP it was “morally wrong” for the Government to continue with the “bedroom tax” during such challenging economic times.

Mr Cunningham said: “We know people are hurting and the benefits system is often inadequate in meeting their needs. It really helps to hear about the real-life experiences of people having to cope, and I’m grateful to North Star for arranging such a useful meeting.”

The MP said he would be referring to what he’d heard when he makes a House of Commons Budget speech in March.