We asked people on the streets how they're coping. It took five minutes before someone cried
09.10.2022 - 08:51
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Over the last year, the Manchester Evening News' Paige Oldfield has visited towns across Greater Manchester to find out how people are coping with the cost of living crisis. During that time, shemet a man who hadn’t eaten for three days. Sheconsoled a sobbing mother forced to light her home using candles.
But this visit to Oldham has been among the most harrowing. It took just minutes for someone to break down when asked about rising bills, while a disabled woman described being trapped upstairs for hours on end, afraid to use the mobility scooter and stair lift on which she depends.
There's hope among the gloom - a woman waiting for the factory job that will make all the difference this winter, the coming energy discount - but the fear on the streets, about the winter ahead, is palpable. There's a weary resignation too. The sense that people feel their voice won't be heard whatever happens. "It's not going to improve if I speak up," as one mother puts it.
The more expensive life has become, the more people have opened up. At times it has seemed like people have been suffering in silence, and were glad that someone, anyone, took the time to ask them what they were going through.
Glancing down at his gurgling baby boy, Anthony Warburton wipes a tear from his cheek. “I have no money in the bank,” he says as his voice begins to crack. “I haven’t got two pennies to rub together.”
Bare cupboards but stacks of baby food and nappies. It’s a scene all too familiar with desperate parents across Greater Manchester. For Anthony, from Oldham, it’s one that has pushed him to the brink.
“I put him before me,” the 41-year-old added. “I have nothing in the cupboard, nothing in the fridge. All my money is just for him.”
When asked