Samantha takes part in Changing Realities, a collaboration between more than 200 parents and carers on a low income from across the UK.
She has torches and blankets already and never lets food in the house completely run out.
But her autistic son’s safe foods require a fridge and freezer, and she worries if an emergency did happen, he would not be able to eat the tinned food if she did buy it.
Instead, they would need to rely on other items in the cupboard.
“You may not feel very well after a few days but you can last more than three without eating,” Samantha said.
But you can’t last very long without water, she believes, so that is what she will prioritise.
According to University of Glasgow professor Ruth Patrick, the UK government’s guidance “will appear at best tone deaf and at worst almost insulting to the 14 million households currently facing poverty across the UK”.
She is leading the Changing Realities project, and added: “There is a profound mis-match between this suggestion and the daily realities for parents and carers on a low-income up and down the country who are struggling to get by, especially as costs continue to rise and the temperatures drop.”
