'I know what it is to go hungry — now I deliver food to others'

Sainsbury's donates £500k to our campaign, taking the total raised to £1.9 million

- BY DAVID COHEN

The first time Shelaine experienced real hunger was when she was 13 and her parents split up. "We went from being a solid working-class family living in Hammersmith to a family plunged into poverty," she says. "When we ran short of food, mum would cook old potatoes that were well past their 'use-by' date, but I was revolted by their sprouting alien fingers and couldn't eat them. It was a hard time but mum probably shielded us from the worst of it by making sure we ate first - this was common for families around us who were also struggling.

The second time Shelaine experienced hunger was much worse. It was her early twenties and she was working for a recruitment company and had become the main family earner, supporting her mother and younger brother. Then there were cutbacks and she lost her job.

"I was unemployed for about a year," she says. "Because my brother was still in primary school, I wanted to make sure he never went hungry, so I started skipping meals and not keeping myself as healthy as I should. At the same time, I was applying for about 30 jobs a week, trying to keep up with bills, and got into about £10,000 of debt. I was at a really low ebb. Some days, I struggled with my mental health and wouldn't get out of bed until mid-afternoon."

Today, Shelaine, aged 40, has a full-time job as a van driver for the charity City Harvest, delivering surplus fresh produce to charities that support thousands of people struggling with food insecurity across London.

"I deliver food to people who have similar stories to mine - it's what gives me purpose and connects me," she says.