A COUNTY councillor from the dale made a £2.50 chicken stretch over four meals last week as she took on a challenge to see if she could survive on the money a young person gets when leaving foster care.
Young people in care receive a £57.90 allowance each week when they turn 18. It is used to cover the cost of living while seeking employment.
Cllr Heather Smith, who represents the Evenwood ward, says she experienced first-hand the hardship when she took up the Durham County Council Care Leavers Challenge.
Cllr Smith, who lives in Hamsterley, said: “Young people in care do different things when they turn 18.
“If they are in a foster home they might be allowed to stay with their foster parents who can give them good support, but others who want more independence go into supported lodgings.
“They get a care leavers’ allowance of £57.90 – with that they have to pay all the household bills, food, transport, clothing, toiletries and entertainment, so it is very tough for them.”
Cllr Smith said the challenge works by people seeing how they would manage. It starts with an immediate deduction for heating, water, a TV licence, a mobile phone and electricity, leaving about £20 for a week.
However, those taking part in the challenge get to start with three items of tinned food, seven tea bags, enough coffee for six cups, one potato and a roll of toilet paper. This is based on what those who set the challenge think a young care leaver might have left over after visiting a foodbank the previous week.
Cllr Smith began by going shopping on the Sunday ahead of the Monday start date because that was when she believed she would get the best deal as supermarkets sell off items at a discount.
Cllr Smith: “It took three times as long as usual because I went to four shops to compare prices.”
A prized buy was a chicken, which she roasted for an initial meal with the leftovers going towards making a curry. The carcass was turned into stock for soup.
Cllr Smith said: “It helps to have cooking skills. It also helps having parents who grew up in the war – you never waste anything and you do everything from scratch.”
Through the challenge she was only allowed to turn on the heating for three hours a day, which split into an hour in the morning and two in the evening.
The greatest difficulty she found was transport.
Her trips to Durham for choir practice and an evening class cost £7.50 each and she was unsure towards the end of the week if she would have enough for opera practice at Newton Aycliffe on the final day of her challenge.
She said: “I am going to run short. It really brings it home to you. The young people tell us it is the transport that is crippling them.”
She added that negotiations with bus companies to get subsidies was proving difficult because of the sheer number of companies involved and many operating across county boundaries.
However, young people leaving care are exempt from council tax and they get a “freedom pass” , which allows them free access to county council leisure facilities.
Cllr Smith said a recent survey showed there are about 900 young people in care across the county, most of whom are in foster homes.
There are eight council-run residential homes looking after young people in care and there another 22 privately-run residential homes.
Many of the privately managed homes cater for young people from other areas such as London.
This was because of cheaper property prices in the county, Cllr Smith said
Of her week-long challenge, Cllr Smith concluded: “It is very hard. For a week you can put up with it, but it is extremely tough if you have to live like this. I am very glad it hasn’t been too cold this week.”
