A FATHER who recently lost his job says he eats just one meal a day amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Wayne Baker, 38, lives in Thurrock, Essex, with his partner Zoe, 32, who works part-time in childcare and his 12-year-old son Cody.

He lost his job in construction as a hod carrier, someone who carries construction materials on site, in November 2022.

“Christmas was really bad to be honest because we could not give our son all the presents he wanted, but he was quite understanding,” he said.

Mr Baker added that he was advised to use a foodbank when he had “nothing left.”

“When I went, it was hard to swallow,” he said.

“I think I cried the first time I went, I felt quite embarrassed as I thought: ‘Really, I’ve got to this stage?'

“I regularly have only one meal a day — one week, I had toast for a week straight, for dinner.

“We also had no heating for three weeks because we could not afford it.”

Mr Baker turned to crowdfunding platform Beam, which helps people struggling with poverty, homelessness and migration, to help him raise cash to pay for a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card, a laptop to complete his training and apply for jobs and safety boots.

In just eight days he hit his target of nearly £600.

More information about Mr Baker’s fundraiser can be found here: https://beam.org/campaigns/wayne-construction-worker-training