'Since I have been in Dudley there are no jobs here, there is nothing here'
A man from Dudley unveils the harsh truth behind the cost of living crisis in the Black Country
Dudley man Gary Morgan fights a day-to-day battle to keep warm and fed in the face of the cost of living crisis.
Mr Morgan, aged 58, lives in a one bedroom council flat and has to take extreme action to avoid going under.
He relies on a foodbank and lives on benefits having been unable to find a job despite a year-long search.
He said: “I’m struggling now because they sanctioned me £100, I have to get a bag of food to last until I get paid and it’s getting worse.
“It’s not working, it’s broken Britain, it’s always seven or ten days when I struggle, they keep killing us and in April they are going to kill us again because they are going to cut our money.
“I thought the idea of a job centre was to find you a job, it’s the other way round, you have to find a job and you have to prove to them that you have been looking for a job or they sanction you.”
He feels people like him are being left behind and Dudley has little to offer for those looking for work.
He said: “Since I have been in Dudley there are no jobs here, there is nothing here.”
The impact of coping with poverty is taking its toll on Mr Morgan’s mental health.
He said: “I get depressed, when I get my money I put it on the side and work it out. I usually have about £13 a week left after I have put my electric and gas on and bought my food.
“That is for coffee time or whatever, I don’t drink and I don’t smoke but it always ends up I have spent it before two weeks is up, a bill will come in.”
He added places like the Cadrene Supported Living centre in Dudley where he goes for help are saving peoples’ lives.
Mr Morgan said: “I wouldn’t survive without this - I would be sitting in the dark for two weeks because the money I get only lasts two weeks, three weeks at the most,” he added.
