A couple of months ago a good friend sent me a tweet, saying the following:

‘Hey, I think I’ve found the perfect charity for you – a combination of volunteers and thrifty cooking’

And that charity was Food Cycle and he couldn’t have been more right! Food cycle, set up in 2009 by Kelvin Cheung, run programmes all over the UK by combining volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation. They do this through a fabulous Hub programme and by setting up Community cafes. Definitely check them out if you can!

In reading more about the work of Food Cycle, I became intrigued about their recent attempt at The Breadline Challenge. The Challenge, which I will come onto later, was borne from the report by Helen Goodman MP who calculated that, with the changes to the benefits system and the introduction of the bedroom tax, some people would be left with just £2.57 per day to spend on food.* And the most shocking thing of all? This affects more than 4 million people in the UK today. A morning coffee at Starbucks costs more than a daily food allowance for 4 million people!

So what is the challenge?

Well, in a nutshell, the challenge is to live off £18 for food and drink for 7 days. That’s everything: breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snacks for £2.57 a day. Starting on 9th September until the 15th, I will not spend a penny more to live for a week.

Now although I like to save money where I can on food, my food bill has never been so low. For a start I don’t think I’ve ever had a week where I haven’t eaten meat or fish, and they’ve been the first things to go in planning for the week. I’m already pining for the loss of snacks, so I may well need to rework my budget to sneak some in.

I know this is just for one week and that for me, unlike others, I will be able to spend more after the week is up. But who knows what the future may hold-one day I could be in this situation and just how would I cope? As the guys at Food Cycle point out, this is not a challenge for many people in the UK, this is their life.

So I’m excited and a little bit nervous as I begin the challenge. Come back tomorrow for my first update on budgeting, planning for the week and Day 1’s menu.

*Helen Goodman MP explains how the £18 is calculated “£18 is based on the experiences of my constituents, in particular women on employment and support allowance who have had to stop working owing to chronic health conditions, perhaps after 20 years of working life. Out of their £71.70, they have to find £10 for electricity, £20 for heating — gas or coal —£6 for water rates, £4 for bus fares and £10 for the bedroom tax, which left them with £23 for weekly living expenses. That £23 has to cover more than food, of course. We did a calculation, and set aside £5 for all the non-food items everyone has to buy—soap, washing powder, washing-up liquid, toothpaste, loo paper—plus a small amount in order to save £50 a year for clothes or a pair of trainers, or in case the iron breaks. That leaves £18.”