A divorced mum-of-two reveals the 'dark times' she suffered after falling into hygiene poverty that left her feeling ashamed and embarrassed.
Caroline Gandy-Brown, 54, spiralled into debt after a divorce and found herself having to sacrifice her own hygiene for the sake of the children.
She laid bare the reality of hygiene poverty as new figures show single adults need an annual income of £31,536 to afford essentials - almost £2,000 more than the average £29,669 salary.
Caroline would clean her teeth with the same old toothbrush for a year, sometimes with just water, so her kids wouldn't run out of toothpaste and when on her period she would reuse sanitary towels with toilet paper stuffed in them.
She admitted: "I thought I had totally failed as a mum.
"You do feel that you are absolutely an utter failure when you can't provide for your own family.
"When I was struggling and I was experiencing such poverty, I knew the decisions I had to make every day at the supermarket in order to survive and I chose my children over myself."
Caroline, who worked part-time in retail sales, racked up £11,500 of debt in just over two-and-a-half years as she struggled to make ends meets.
She said: "My wages didn't cover the cost of my bills so I took out four credit cards.
“We were on an electric meter and it stopped because I had run out of money and so I went to the bank and just burst into tears and they gave me an overdraft but that money soon went.
“I maxed out the £200 overdraft within three days because I took it and put £30 on the electricity key and used the rest to buy food and stuff for the house and stock up the freezer.
"We were then left with just running down the freezer and cupboard contents again and so I started doing shops on credit cards and store cards and it was a downward spiral.
"My priority was my children. I'm always fearful of how children can bully other children in the playground so I always made sure my children had fitting clothes and food on the table. They were my priorities making sure they came first."
As a result Caroline was forced to go to extreme lengths to save money.
She said: "I remember thinking 'how am I going to survive the day with no deodorant?', so I'd sometimes have to run into the work toilets and discreetly wash under my arms and my more intimate parts to make sure I was fresh and clean because I was conscious of smelling.
"I made sure that I changed out the kids' toothbrushes every three months and I would buy a tube of value toothpaste every week.
“When that was going at the end of the week, I'd be cutting it open and getting the toothbrush in there to make sure the kids had enough to clean their teeth twice a day.
"There were plenty of times when I would just run my toothbrush under the tap and just rinse and spit without toothpaste.
Caroline Gandy-Brown, 54, spiralled into debt after a divorce and found herself having to sacrifice her own hygiene for the sake of the children.
She laid bare the reality of hygiene poverty as new figures show single adults need an annual income of £31,536 to afford essentials - almost £2,000 more than the average £29,669 salary.
Caroline would clean her teeth with the same old toothbrush for a year, sometimes with just water, so her kids wouldn't run out of toothpaste and when on her period she would reuse sanitary towels with toilet paper stuffed in them.
She admitted: "I thought I had totally failed as a mum.
"You do feel that you are absolutely an utter failure when you can't provide for your own family.
"When I was struggling and I was experiencing such poverty, I knew the decisions I had to make every day at the supermarket in order to survive and I chose my children over myself."
Caroline, who worked part-time in retail sales, racked up £11,500 of debt in just over two-and-a-half years as she struggled to make ends meets.
She said: "My wages didn't cover the cost of my bills so I took out four credit cards.
“We were on an electric meter and it stopped because I had run out of money and so I went to the bank and just burst into tears and they gave me an overdraft but that money soon went.
“I maxed out the £200 overdraft within three days because I took it and put £30 on the electricity key and used the rest to buy food and stuff for the house and stock up the freezer.
"We were then left with just running down the freezer and cupboard contents again and so I started doing shops on credit cards and store cards and it was a downward spiral.
"My priority was my children. I'm always fearful of how children can bully other children in the playground so I always made sure my children had fitting clothes and food on the table. They were my priorities making sure they came first."
As a result Caroline was forced to go to extreme lengths to save money.
She said: "I remember thinking 'how am I going to survive the day with no deodorant?', so I'd sometimes have to run into the work toilets and discreetly wash under my arms and my more intimate parts to make sure I was fresh and clean because I was conscious of smelling.
"I made sure that I changed out the kids' toothbrushes every three months and I would buy a tube of value toothpaste every week.
“When that was going at the end of the week, I'd be cutting it open and getting the toothbrush in there to make sure the kids had enough to clean their teeth twice a day.
"There were plenty of times when I would just run my toothbrush under the tap and just rinse and spit without toothpaste.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Hygiene poverty is a major issue facing the United Kingdom
00:03 and it affects multiple people from multiple backgrounds.
00:06 Hygiene poverty is when you can no longer afford to purchase products
00:20 for personal hygiene such as toothpaste, body wash, shampoo or household hygiene poverty
00:26 which includes things like household cleaning items.
00:28 Hygiene poverty affects more people than you would ever be aware of.
00:32 I myself have experienced it which is why I am so happy to be championing this campaign to combat it.
00:38 The community pantry that we have at the Abbey Centre was set up in response to the cost of living crisis.
00:44 We are here to support people that are in poverty.
00:48 We source the items through Inkind Direct, donations.
00:52 It's a non-judgmental way of helping and supporting the local community.
00:56 We are based in the old wash house of South Westminster.
01:00 This area used to be known as Devil's Acre which is where Charles Dickens got his inspiration for Oliver Twist.
01:05 It's really important that we empower people to help themselves.
01:09 Not everybody has the same opportunities and to provide the basic hygiene items is an absolute given
01:17 and it's how we should all be operating and supporting each other.
01:20 [Music plays]