A mum-of-four from Gillingham has shared her heartbreak as rising costs of living mean she struggles to put food on the table.

The 47-year-old says that visiting a food bank every week is the only way to survive and allows her extra money to pay for electricity to stay warm.

The food bank provides vital support for those in financial difficulty

Paula Youdle lives on Burns Road with her partner and two of her four children: 20-year-old Anthony and 23-year-old Benjamin.

Her older two children, Laura-Louise and 27-year-old Stephen, live locally but aren't entirely dependant on her.

She is a full-time carer for her partner and so doesn't work but has only had to turn to the food bank for help in past year, something she attributes to benefit cuts alongside general rising costs of living, especially energy bills.

Every week she takes her shopping trolley to the Gillingham Street Angels on Skinner Street and waits in the ever-growing line of people from all walks of life to collect food for the entire family and their two pet dogs.

Volunteers at the Gillingham Street Angels said that the queue can now have a wait time of more than 45-minutes.

However, Paula remains positive in the line and looks forward to seeing what is on offer each week, with a special hope for some fresh watermelon as that is her favourite.

Last week she was in an especially high mood as she had been treated by her son to a 50p can of Coca-Cola which was "a rare treat".

After waiting for around half-an-hour, Paula and her son Stephen reached the front of the queue where they were greeted by a friendly volunteer who checked on their wellbeing and discussed what they needed.

Unlike many food banks, the Gillingham Street Angels do not run credit checks and so no paperwork or proof of financial difficulty is required.

After a quick five minute dash around the crates of food filled with donations and Ocado undelivered stock, the Youdle's had filled their shopping trolley.

Paula said: "I've got an epileptic partner at home and since my benefits were cut around a year ago I started coming here.

"My first time, Tracey who helps run this one, bless her, she gave me three big bags of food which was a great help as we didn't have any benefits that month.

"I've also got two little fur babies at home and they actually helped me feed the dogs as well which is lovely.

"If it wasn't for the Gillingham Street Angels I don't know where I'd be now."

In the past two years, this small independent food bank in Gillingham has seen almost a tenfold increase in users.

In 2020 they were feeding 1,200 people every single month, now that figure is more than 10,000 - a number they anticipate will continue to grow.

Paula added: "Sometimes we come here and it's very quiet but others days there's a queue stretching a mile down the road.

"I stop and think - are there actually that many people struggling in Medway?"

As well as fresh food, the food bank also stock long-life products and plenty of microwave meals as rising energy costs mean some can't afford to power their ovens and fridges for long periods of time.

KMTV looked into food bank figures across the county

Paula has found herself in this situation and in desperate times admits she will reach for the ready meals.

She said: "We put a few quid on the electric and the gas when we can, but some weeks we can't do that. Sometimes I don't know if I'll even have enough to cook this food let alone take it.

"When they have the ready meals up here you can just use the microwave for a couple of minutes so that's handy.

"But sometimes I just struggle from day-to-day and that hurts me."

Visibly upset, she added: "I want to feed my children, but I can't.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to get emotional but sometimes I cant feed my children and that hurts."

Her son Stephen lives in Chatham and also relies on the food bank despite working part-time as a steward at a local football club.

After spending time living on the streets in London, he moved back to Medway to be closer to family and to get his life back on track.

He said he now feels like a failure to society.

Stephen explained: "When I get my Universal Credit a massive cut gets taken away from me because I'm working part-time.

"It's not right - I'm working to earn that money and then just as fast more money is taken away again because I work.

"Especially when they cut the Universal Credit by £80 per month for everyone that was hard - that would do for gas, electric and food.

"I really do feel like I'm letting society down."

The Youdle family say that they all try to help each other if they have a spare couple of pounds but without the food bank they would struggle to survive.

Neil Charlick runs the Gillingham Street Angels and said: "We can't give free heating away but we can give free food away, so it makes sense to come and get that free food and spend your money on heating.

"We looked after people on the street, the homeless and people in supported housing.

"Now we're helping people in full-time employment who are really struggling and can't afford to survive."

The Trussell Trust is the largest organisation running food banks across the country, but unlike the Gillingham Street Angels, they usually require credit checks for those asking for help.

In Kent, they oversee the operations of food banks in Medway, Swale, Gravesham, Faversham and Bromley.

Garry Lemon from the Trussell Trust said: “The recent announcements on record energy bill increases have sent shock waves throughout the country.

"The government’s package of measures might cushion the blow for some, but it’s not enough to protect people who already need a food bank.

“With inflation reaching a 30 year high, our social security system is at breaking point and essential costs across the board are rising rapidly.

"Overall inflation is only set to increase further this spring. To truly help people hardest hit the government must bring benefit payments in line with the expected cost of living this April, or risk pushing more people through the doors of food banks.

"This means increasing payments by at least 6% instead of the planned 3.1%."