A mum has been struggling with rising energy bills and the costs of getting to London for her boy's cancer treatment, as the cost of living crisis continues.

Tanya Finch said she could not afford to eat and went hungry whilst sat at her son’s bedside in hospital and was fraught with worry about returning to a cold house with gas running on emergency credit.

She lives in Gravesend with her children, including 17-year-old son, Peter, who has leukaemia.

Her electric bills have almost doubled this winter, rising from about £20 a week to up to £40.

She said: “It’s just costing so much just to live with gas, electric, water rates and council tax. It's emotionally draining where Peter’s not well and then I've got the worry of all the bills.

"It’s having an emotional effect on me. I'm sitting there crying thinking ‘Oh my god, I can’t afford to buy food this week and my boy’s got cancer’, and even if he didn’t have cancer, I'd be sitting there crying as a mum because I can’t feed my child.

"Him having cancer as well, is making me even worse and even sadder.

"I didn’t take anything out of my cupboards or make a sandwich because I haven’t even got anything to take with me, so that is how bad it is...”

“I was paying £20-something a week for my electric and now I’m paying £30 to £40 a week and as it’s turning to winter I'm having to use the tumble dryer and washing machine too.

"I'm only on £200-something a fortnight. £80 a fortnight I'm putting on electric, that’s £160 a month, that is a lot of money.

"Then my gas I put £26 on that – that was a couple of weeks ago and that’s gone now as well, and I've only had my heating on twice.

“It has had a really big impact on us as a family. I'm on emergency credit right now until I get paid tomorrow. I'm going to have to pay electricity, my gas and my council tax and then that’s it, I'll have no money, I'm going to be skint.

“When you’ve got a sick child it’s even more emotionally draining for the parent, and it makes you feel like you’re failing as a parent.

"That’s how I feel. I think Peter’s really hungry and I want to cook for him, but I can’t, and I feel bad because he’s got autism as well."

She added: “There’s hardly anything left to clothe the boys, there’s nothing there to feed my children really. I'm getting by but they are having to go without and I'm having to go without as well.

“Sometimes I sit here and cry when I really am poor, and I think ‘I’ve got to go to the hospital next week, I’m not going to be able to have anything to eat, and Peter might not want to eat what they’re going to give him’.

"I feel embarrassed I've got to sit up there all day with nothing. I can’t even have a cup of coffee – that is how bad it’s got.

“A few times I have been sat in hospital and I feel really hungry and I want to get something to eat, but I haven’t got anything.

"I didn’t take anything out of my cupboards or make a sandwich because I haven’t even got anything to take with me, so that is how bad it is.”

The latest figures from Young Lives vs Cancer show that Tanya and Peter could be one of many families to fork out £730 a month in cancer costs, as prices soar amid the cost of living crisis.

This has led the charity to launch an appeal for Crisis Fund to help support children and young people with cancer and their families during rough times.

To donate to Young Lives vs Cancer’s Crisis Fund appeal, click here.

Rachel Kirby-Rider, chief executive of Young Lives vs Cancer, explained how receiving the news that a family member has cancer is becoming even more devastating as financial struggles are now an additional worry.

She said: "They are left having to make impossible choices. Deciding between putting the heating on to keep their child warm or paying for petrol to get them to hospital for treatment; getting the food that their child desperately craves while on chemotherapy or buying them a warm coat.

"We cannot sit by and let those already devastated by all that cancer throws at them, struggle even more..."

"There are still families and young people out there who haven’t received the relief of a grant. They’re left having to make unimaginable sacrifices as their debts spiral. We can’t support them without the public’s help. Please donate to our Crisis Fund Appeal today.”

She added: "We are witnessing the worst cost-of-living crisis we have seen. What Tanya is experiencing is devastating and families shouldn’t have to go through that.

"So many families we support are hitting financial rock bottom.

"We cannot sit by and let those already devastated by all that cancer throws at them, struggle even more.

"We have heard from our social workers just how desperate the situation is. We can’t wait for the government to intervene. We need to help families now.”