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A mum has told how she took pills to sleep 36 hours to avoid hunger after a Universal Credits nightmare left her with no money.

The woman, who called herself "Beth" to protect her identity, would regularly up her dose to stay asleep for up to 24 hours, because she had no cash to buy food and was once left with a piece of bread to last two days.

Beth told North Wales Live it was a way of coping after her life had spiralled into anguish and she was just a step away from being on the streets.

And according to Wrexham county councillor Carrie Harper, who has been supporting Beth, her plight is just the tip of the iceberg in the local community, which was experiencing "supercharged levels of poverty," following the introduction of Universal Credit, she said.

The mum, in her late 30s, was living in a private rented house in Wrexham last year and was getting by with Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) to her son of about £650, who has serious health needs, who she was caring for.

But they were stopped in December 2018, after a review and she was forced to go on to £25 income support a week and then wait five weeks for a Universal Credit payment with no money, she said.

As rent arrears racked up, she was unable to pay bills or buy food and had to move twice from private houses, before ending up in emergency accommodation in Caia Park. In that time she was threatened with evictions and had bailiffs turning up on her doorstep.

"I have been a carer for my son since birth - he is 20 years, but he lost his PiPs in December 2018 - it was about £650 a month." said Beth.

"They did not assess my son properly," she said: "I wanted to appeal - but I couldn't wait the three months for a result with no money.

"Between December to May. I went onto Income Support - £25 a week - I was having to pay a water charge of £10 out of that and had no gas for six months. Then I had to go on to Universal Credit came and there was five weeks when I was waiting for a payment and had no money.

"I got into rent arrears. I had no food, no electric, the money that I owe out is ridiculous."

"I've had bailiffs at the door - and been given 10 minutes to pack a carrier back to get out," she said.

"The worst thing was the food - I have been on medication for depression and anxiety.

"At one point I had one piece of bread to eat for two days. Sometimes and I would double up on my night time tablets so I could sleep 24 hours and not feel the hunger - and when I was getting a food parcel, I was eating it on one night because I was so hungry.

"I am supposed to take one sleeping pill, but I was taking up to five. One time I slept for 36 hours to avoid the hunger. I would do this once or twice a month. I was in a very dark place and self harmed through anger and frustration."

With the support of Cllr Harper Beth is now about to move to a council accommodation, and is currently on £72 a week.

"I just want the basics, the rent and bills paid and normal things in the cupboard to eat. I don't want luxuries," said Beth. "At the moment, I am not living, I am just existing. I never expected to be in this position in my life, I was almost homeless and hit rock bottom.

"Now, once my rent, gas and electric is paid I will have about £20 a week to pay for everything else including food - it doesn't include anything like access to the Internet or being able to afford running a car.

"It's going to be tough, I have always been my son's carer, but now he's 20 and has a small part time job, I want to try and get my own part time job and have a little amount of money I can call my own to buy things."

Cllr Harper, who represents Queensway in Wrexham, said: "Universal Credit in particular has had a major impact. Wrexham went live with Universal Credit in 2017 and 5,734 local families are currently on the benefit. Just over a third of those are in work. Over the last two years I’ve seen families lurch from crisis to crisis having to navigate the cruel system."

She said food bank usage locally has risen by 20%, with almost 5,000 emergency food parcels being handed out last year. The local food bank attribute the rise directly to the introduction of Universal Credit, she added.

Other charities have also emerged to help with the crisis - a volunteer-led scheme called Given to Shine collects surplus food from local supermarkets and shops and re-distributes it along with free sanitary products to families in Wrexham and Flintshire.

"One of the saddest experiences I have ever had was volunteering for this charity on Christmas Eve and seeing local families queueing at the church in the dark with their children to collect food donations. Given to Shine now delivers more than 8000 food parcels a year, including 500 at Christmas."

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions (DPW) said: "Universal Credit gives people financial help if they’re unemployed, low-paid or unable to work – sometimes payments are reduced if a person is repaying an advance or their earnings exceed the threshold. There are safeguards in place to ensure repayments are affordable.”

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