I’ll shout from the rooftops that I use food banks. There should be no shame

theguardian.com:

I first used a food bank 10 years ago, when my son’s father took my last £20 and spent it on drugs. I went by myself because he was ashamed to be seen there. I wasn’t – I’ve always helped other people when I’ve had a few quid. I’ll shout from the rooftops that I use food banks because there’s a stigma attached to them and there shouldn’t be. If it wasn’t for their rice and eggs and tins of beans, we wouldn’t have got to eat sometimes.

I’ve worked pretty much all of my life and can’t stand people who are happy to sit on their arse and just pick up benefits. I’ve done so many things, but mainly worked in the hospitality industry running bars or doing hotel management. I even trained dolphins for a while, but that’s a long story best left for another day.

I always seemed to choose the wrong man. I have two children and they have different dads. I had an on-off relationship with the father of my teenage daughter for a few years. He was incredibly violent. Eventually I gave evidence against him in court and he was imprisoned. When he came out of prison he said he was rehabilitated and we gave it another go. Then I got pregnant, he went for me again and I left him.

I was with the father of my son for a number of years. Unfortunately, he was addicted to drugs and violent, too. When my daughter was 10, he went for her. I told him to get out of the house.He wouldn’t, so we did.

Money wasn’t easy when we were together because of his addictions, but since then it’s got worse. For a while he would give me the odd 50 or 60 quid for my son, but now I get nothing from either of the dads. I told the CSA [Child Support Agency] they were earning small amounts so one was ordered to pay £3.50 and the other £7, which neither did. It’s beyond a