Children’s charity Welsh frontline workers warn families fear ‘going under’ during coronavirus outbreak

• Action for Children launches emergency appeal to help vulnerable families stay afloat
• Charity service workers on the frontline reveal families fear they won’t be able to properly feed children and babies

  Vulnerable families across Wales and the UK fear they won’t be able to stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis, a survey by Action for Children revealed today – as the charity launched an emergency appeal to prevent desperate families from reaching breaking point.

  Nearly one in every three children* in the UK was living in poverty before the crisis hit. But the charity is warning this unprecedented health and economic crisis is now set to force even more families to choose between feeding their children and paying bills.

  Action for Children runs a range of services across West Wales including young carers projects and family support services including Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion Young Carers, Women & Girls Together and Hawthorn Project for families of children and young people with disabilities and special needs in Haverfordwest.

  Action for Children carried out telephone interviews with workers representing 60¹ of its frontline services across the UK, including children’s centres, services for disabled children and young carers, as they struggle to support families in increasingly difficult conditions.

  • Families reported being most worried about not being able to afford food, followed by electricity and gas, then nappies2. Other concerns raised included access to baby formula and uncertainty over help paying the rent if they can’t work.
  • The vast majority³ of frontline workers interviewed said they were already speaking to parents worried about having enough money to stay afloat during the outbreak.

  Brigitte Gater, Action for Children’s national director in Wales, said: “The coronavirus crisis has exploded into the lives of vulnerable children and families at a time when millions were already struggling to keep their heads above water – and now are terrified of going under.

  “Action for Children’s frontline staff, who were running unofficial foodbanks to help those at risk of going hungry before the outbreak, are overwhelmed by the sheer desperation of frightened families who fear they can’t afford to keep children and babies warm and well fed. Some are even donating food from their own cupboards to help keep families from going under.

  “Coronavirus has thrown all our lives and our communities in Wales into unprecedented crisis – families need to know they are not on their own. Our support workers will keep battling to help families come out the other side of this – but they need your help. We’re asking people to help a family hit by the coronavirus crisis and donate to Action for Children.”

  To support Action for Children’s emergency coronavirus appeal which will help families cover the cost of the basics, please visit actionforchildren.org.uk or call 0300 123 2112

Further quotes from Action for Children frontline workers:
Staff have started donating from their own cupboards because there are families they know won’t be able to manage. We worried about parents who have a disabled child or young person in family home, especially with autism as they are struggling to explain what’s happening to them. Kids who can’t understand why they aren’t going to school – it’s deeply unsettling for them.

In a seaside rural town people are thinking a lot about zero hour contracts – they’re in sectors that might struggle the most with childcare, job losses. We’re moving towards prioritising the most vulnerable first but some families have said they’d rather not have us visit because of coronovirus. We’ll be offering telephone support to families we’ve been working with for a while.

We’re worried about baby formula shortage but the biggest worry is long-term financial implications and families’ ability to sustain themselves. A mum we saw yesterday – she couldn’t pay any bills or afford food – any of the essentials. We could help but we don’t know for how much longer. Once families are remote the timeliness of the response is critical – to ensure children are keeping warm, having water to wash etc. It’s been such a significant shift in such a short space a time. We’re trying to be creative and available to as many people as possible.

We need to know more about the government hardship money – there’s been a delay in the messaging – there was an announcement from the PM about helping families but no-one’s heard anything as yet how this is happening.