A disabled man is having to sell his late wife’s possession in order to keep his head above water as inflation bites.
Jason Alcock said he is struggling to make ends meet amid the cost of living crisis hitting people up and down the country.
The 51-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent lives with autism, ADHD and bipolar disorder, conditions which make finding work extremely difficult.
With the price of everyday goods rising at levels unmatched in 40 years, he is faced with making heartbreaking decisions to pay the bills.
His wife Paola died in 2018 after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Jason has resorted to raising funds from treasured items she left behind to stay afloat.
He said: ‘I worked out I’ve sold £8,000 worth of stuff in the last three years to survive.
‘Paola had a Star Wars collection, she used to do a lot of crafts. All those kinds of things, her old phones and tablets and everything like that, that’s all been sold.
‘A lot of the things I would have loved to have saved – they meant something to me – have all been sold.
‘I’m at the point now that I’ve got nothing else to sell.’
He called for an overhaul of the benefits system for disable people, saying: ‘Ever since (Paola died) there hasn’t been a month that’s gone by where I haven’t had to top my money up by selling something in the house. I shouldn’t be doing that.’
Jason, whose conditions leave him unable to leave the house, relies on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and a severe disability premium.
He said he should qualify for the £800 worth of support Rishi Sunak announced in May but described it as a ‘band-aid on a gaping chest wound’.
Fears are continuing to mounts that the financial squeeze could tip the UK into recession, with households reining in spending.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Wednesday that soaring inflation will hit Britain harder than any other major economy during the current energy crisis and that output is likely to weaken earlier and be more intense than others.
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