A MUM-OF-TWO has been forced to share a bed with her kids to keep warm after having no heating for a month because she can’t afford to pay her bills.
Beth Connock, 28, who is a full-time carer to her disabled son Tommy, 5, said she has been struggling to feed her children and heat her home after her heating bills soared by 80 per cent.
Beth’s rented cottage in the rural hamlet of Dartshill, Somerset is powered by oil as the house doesn’t have a mains gas supply.
The single mum’s problems started when the cost of filling up just half the oil tank to heat the family home rocketed from £210 to £380.
The rising cost of bills means Beth has been forced to share a bed with Tommy and three-year-old Gabby at night to keep warm because she can’t afford to turn the heating on.
Desperate to keep the kids warm, Beth has a tiny electric heater for the bedroom – but in the evenings, they can see their breath in their living room when the temperature drops.
Beth told the Mirror: “It’s really upsetting because I feel like a failure of a mother. I can choose between keeping my house warm at the moment and feeding the kids.
“And the kids need to be fed but they need to be warm, it’s quite upsetting. No one should have to choose between feeding or eating.”
The single mum wraps her young children up in jumpers and scarves at home – but Tommy, who is autistic, struggles to wear all the layers of clothes.
She said: “We’re wearing a lot of extra layers and having to sleep in the same bed to keep warm.
“I shut the bedroom door to keep our body heat in but as soon as we go downstairs, it is freezing and we’re all shivering.
“It’s a very old draughty cottage, I woke up the other morning around 5 am to find ice around the windowsill.
“We’re wearing a lot more clothes, which means a lot more washing and a backlog of clothes as we wait days for things to dry.
“It’s also a choice when it comes to hot water – if the kids have a bath, I can’t have a shower as well.”
The broke mum is now terrified her children will get sick.
She said: “I have no money and I’m worried about the kids getting ill because it is so cold.
“February and March can be the coldest months so I needed to get something done quickly.”
I shut the bedroom door to keep our body heat in but as soon as we got downstairs, it is freezing and we’re all shivering
Beth Cannock
Beth is unable to work after becoming Tommy’s full-time carer due to his severe epilepsy and the family rely on Universal Credit.
She said she previously tried to get a loan but she was refused as she still owes around £30 from the last loan she received.
Beth said: “I’ve tried everything. I even tried to get a grant in my local area but I heard nothing back.”
The hike in the price of oil also comes as Beth was told her rent would rise by £25 per month.
The desperate mum has now set up a GoFundMe to help cover her bills – and one kindhearted stranger donated £100 anonymously.
Beth said: “We scrape by every month, it’s difficult. With Universal Credit, I don’t know if they’ll cover the rent increase.
“As a single mum on benefits, £25 is a lot of money.
“Tommy’s school is about half an hour away so I do an hour-round journey every day to get him there.
“It got to the point where I was desperate for heating and I just had to set up a GoFundMe page.”
Beth plans to donate any excess funds to the Daisy Garland charity – the charity that supported her family while Tommy was in the hospital in 2020 after suffering constant seizures.
