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 I’m eating and drinking on £2 a day for 30 days. (It started as 20 days but I added another 10.) I could easily spend £2 on a snack—couldn’t you?—so it’s a big challenge for me but I’m determined to rise to it. You may wonder why, especially since I’m asking for your support.

Destitute asylum seekers in the UK only get £36.95 a week at the most—and that has to cover all they need: food and drink, toiletries, clothes and shoes, cleaning products and household items, fares, stamps and phone calls—everything. From talking to asylum seekers and from simple calculations, it’s easy to work out that there can’t be more than £2 a day to spend on food.

Can I really imagine how hard that must be? I don’t think so and the only way I can get at least an inkling of the experience is by going through it myself, at least for a while. In my approach to realism, I added three other challenges: (1) I'm only shopping in places that I can WALK to; (2) I'm only using TEN pieces of kitchenware for all my cooking; (3) I'm blogging six days a week - and I've never blogged before.

I’m driven by the need to express some level of empathy for and solidarity with asylum seekers, and also to contribute to my education about their situation, as I try to support them. I also hope to raise some funds for ‘Separated Child’ by asking you to sponsor me. I kicked off by donating the money I’d have spent on my food and drink in that period.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.