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Energy bills: struggling families forced to ‘seek refuge in McDonald’s’
Alex Lawson Energy correspondent
Tue 17 May 2022 11.43 EDT
Desperate parents are using fast food outlets as an emergency kitchen, bathroom and living room
Families struggling to cope with energy bills are seeking shelter in McDonald’s, with one charity saying hard-pressed parents and children are spending their evenings in the fast food restaurants, relying on the facilities as an emergency kitchen, bathroom and living room.
“People are buying their kids a Happy Meal for a few quid and keeping them warm inside. Then they wash and brush their teeth in the sinks and watch television for hours on the free wifi,” says Matthew Cole.
Cole is the chair of the trustees of the Fuel Bank Foundation, a body which tries to help families with their bills, currently ballooning amid raging inflation. The realities of life for those in financial distress are stark – parents who take their children to leisure centres to use the showers without swimming, others hunched over tea lights to heat pans. Cole’s team has tried to persuade residents not to burn furniture or wooden pallets to keep warm, for worry they will set their homes on fire, but many feel they have no choice...