Kirsty’s more resilient than she thinks!

Crisis does not always look like eviction notices and cardboard boxes. Sometimes it is a mental health crash, a five-week wait for Universal Credit, and the quiet panic of watching food prices climb while your teenager needs more than a swing in the park to feel like life is normal.

We’re joined by Kirsty from Manchester, a single mum who works part-time in crisis support and has managed long-term mental health challenges for most of her life. She shares what happened when she took on too much, lost her job, and suddenly had to navigate the benefits system while unwell. We talk about the culture she experienced at DWP, why support can feel hardest to access at the exact moment you have the least energy, and what a more human system could look like, including her idea of aligning decisions more closely with healthcare realities.

Kirsty also brings the day-to-day detail that rarely makes headlines: writing a priority shopping list, counting every pound as you move through the supermarket, and the sting of asking for items to be taken off at the checkout. We dig into the cost of living crisis, inflation, fuel shocks, and why “working families” can still need an affordable food scheme. Along the way we explore how surplus food and mobile food clubs can cut food waste, reduce food insecurity, and build community that lasts far beyond a bag of groceries.

If you care about food poverty, mental health, Universal Credit, and practical community support, listen now then subscribe, share the podcast with a mate, and leave us a review so more people can find it.