​Urgent winter appeal launched by charity as struggling families look for support with energy and food bills

The research also shows that over half of parents with children in the household limited their electricity or gas use in the house at least once a month, and a quarter of parents with children living at home have skipped meals.

To provide families in poverty with emergency aid and help out of debt ahead of Christmas, Christians Against Poverty have launched an urgent appeal to raise £260,000.

The charity was a lifeline for South Yorkshire husband and wife, Paul and Sam Helsby, and their two youngest children.

Paul and Sam previously ran a successful construction business but as material costs shot up Paul had to work longer hours until he reached breaking point. He suffered from a stroke and was unable to work.

The Barnsley family quickly fell into thousands of pounds of debt and had enforcement agents knocking at their door just before last Christmas.

Speaking to GB News, joiner Paul Helsby said: "I work with my hands and I just fix things. I'm a fixer and having that taken away from me was just a kick for me.

"It made things hard for us as a family, and for me as a person. It felt like I'd lost my manhood, basically, that I'd lost everything that I had worked so hard to get.

"Just how quickly you go from being okay to being in the red. I just didn't want to leave the house. I didn't want to open the curtains, didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to sit and just curl up in a ball."

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Christians Against Poverty provided emergency aid and free debt advice to Paul and Sam Helsby, who are now debt free.

"We had got £2 left on the electric meter," said Sam Helsby.

She added: "Paul was getting more and more ill. We were at absolutely our wit's end and to, have even that little bit of breathing space from this fund, just to help us with some food for a couple of weeks to help us put gas and electric on just until we got the ball rolling, was huge.

"CAP [Christians Against Poverty] helped us to sort our finances out."

Christians Against Poverty Barnsley Centre Manager, Jonathan Tweedle, supported Sam and Paul. He says the number of families in poverty is rising.

"Over half the families individuals I meet tell us that they've thought about taking their own lives, and because they're in such a low place, there is nothing worse," he told GB News.

"I've gone into homes in mid-winter and I can see my breath because it's so cold and in homes with families and children.

"I've even been in homes where the actual lights go out because the emergency credit's gone. So, you know, they shouldn't be like that."

Local churches across the UK are stepping in to help families in crisis this winter by offering immediate support, including Christians Against Poverty emergency energy top ups and food shops whilst also providing longer term solutions such as free debt advice.

Click here find out more or donate to the Christians Against Poverty winter appeal at capuk.org/christmasaid