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PODCAST

A Slice of Bread and Butter

The Bread and Butter Thing

The voice of The Bread and Butter Thing - with stories from the frontline of the cost of living crisis from one of the UK"s leading food charities.

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

17:49

Single Mom Superhero: Tracy's Unfiltered Story

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/08/22

Send us a text "I'm a worker, not a charity case." These six powerful words from Tracy, a 47-year-old single mother working at IKEA, capture the essence of a profound conversation about financial struggle, resilience, and the hidden battles many families face behind brave smiles. Tracy's story unfolds with raw honesty as she reveals how divorce left her shouldering £102,000 of debt while raising two daughters—one 11 years old and another 21 and pregnant (making Tracy soon to be "Grand...

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22:00

When Life Changes Course: Navigating Benefits While...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/08/15

Send us a text When life throws a curveball, navigating support systems shouldn't feel like scaling a brick wall. Yet for John, whose partner's sudden health decline forced him to abandon his teaching career and become a full-time carer, that's exactly what happened. "These numbers don't add up," became John's mantra as he juggled caring responsibilities with punishing 55-hour night shifts at a retail warehouse. Despite his education and determination, the benefits system proved nearly impen...

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20:10

Community Catalyst: How Food Creates Transformation

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/08/08

Send us a text "It's not just the food—it's reinvigorating community spaces." These powerful words from Paul Harris, headteacher at Carhill Community Primary School in Gateshead, capture the transformative impact The Bread and Butter Thing has had on his community in just three short weeks. Serving a school where 60% of children qualify for free school meals, Paul recognized immediately that TBBT's affordable food model could complement his existing community support initiatives. What he did...

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26:37

Financially Stuck: The Hidden Struggle of Working...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/08/01

Send us a text What happens when a healthcare professional with a Master's degree finds herself struggling to put food on the table? Emma Vinton's story challenges our assumptions about who needs community food support in today's economy. Emma, a dedicated nurse who pivoted to medical writing after 20 years in healthcare, never expected to need help with food shopping. But when her housing costs doubled after separating from her partner, she discovered what many working professionals are exp...

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22:20

The Benefits Labyrinth: Tracy Finds Her Way Through

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/07/25

Send us a text When Tracy moved from Working Tax Credits to Universal Credit, nothing about her circumstances changed – she was still a single mum working as a support worker on national living wage. Yet suddenly, she found herself without access to free prescriptions, dental care and glasses that she'd previously relied on. "I had emergency dental treatment more or less as soon as I migrated over to universal credit... and I had to pay for it." Tracy's story reveals the hidden complexities ...

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16:44

Lost and Found: Farid's Journey

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/07/18

Send us a text What drives a 15-year-old boy to flee his home country alone, crossing dangerous borders in darkness to reach safety thousands of miles away? For Farid, it was the Taliban's targeting of his family due to his father and brothers' work with Afghan special forces. Nine years after that perilous journey, Farid has built a life in Newcastle – a city he chose for its "chill" atmosphere after exploring several UK locations. His path hasn't been without challenges; in an ironic twist...

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22:10

Food clubs offer more than just affordable food—they...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/07/11

Send us a text What happens when working full-time simply isn't enough to feed your family? Tracy's powerful story exposes the harsh reality many working parents face in today's economy. As a single mother of five working as a property assistant for Kirklees Council, Tracy embodies the growing demographic of "working poor" – those doing everything society expects yet still struggling to make ends meet. After a series of unexpected health operations last year, Tracy found herself skipping mea...

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23:18

From Social Worker to Service User

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/07/04

Send us a text Lorraine Smith's journey from social worker to service user reveals the profound ways life can change when health challenges arise unexpectedly. After receiving six different diagnoses in six months, this Manchester-born professional found herself navigating the very support systems she once guided others through. The conversation takes us through Lorraine's fascinating background – born to Jamaican and South American parents, spending formative years in Barbados, and eventual...

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24:11

The New Normal: When Full-Time Work Isn't Enough

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/06/27

Send us a text The face of financial hardship is changing. Meet David - data analyst by day, heavy metal musician by night - who embodies a troubling economic trend that's sweeping across the UK. David and his wife both work full-time professional jobs. They don't drive, don't have children, and live modestly. Yet they frequently find themselves struggling financially, sometimes unable even to afford The Bread and Butter Thing's affordable food service. How is this possible? The answer reve...

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18:00

When debt becomes your comfort zone, change feels...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/06/20

Send us a text Meet Tracy, whose metal heart valve ticks audibly throughout our conversation - a constant reminder of the life-threatening surgery that became a turning point in her already challenging financial journey. Tracy's story offers a rare glimpse into how debt becomes not just a circumstance but an identity. Having become a mother at 17 and growing up with a mother who was always in debt, Tracy's financial struggles began from the moment she had her own place. "That's all I've ever...

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23:55

Beyond Food and Fuel: Working Families', Hidden...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/06/14

Send us a text Vic and Mark welcome Hayley, Assistant Chief Executive at Citizens Advice Manchester, for a candid conversation about the changing face of financial hardship in Britain today. The discussion reveals a troubling shift in who's seeking support – it's no longer just people out of work, but increasingly those in employment who find themselves unable to make ends meet. "People who are in quotation, quotation marks, doing everything right," as Hayley puts it, yet still facing imposs...

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23:09

Can We Fix a Food System Built for Quantity Not Quality?

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/06/06

Send us a text The stark reality of our broken food system comes to life as Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation, sits down with Mark and Vic to unpack the findings from their eye-opening Broken Plate report. What emerges is a troubling picture of how our food environments systematically disadvantage those on lower incomes, creating a perfect storm of health inequalities. Anna introduces us to the "three A's" framework—affordability, availability, and appeal—that shapes our...

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19:27

Celebrating Erin: A community star this National...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/05/30

Not only is it National Volunteer Week but it's also our 50TH EPISODE(!) so we had to make it an extra special one. This week, it's all about Erin, sign language interpreter by day, community hero by heart. She’s not only founded a food bank in her town but also set up our Thorney hub, all whilst working with big-name broadcasters and raising two children as a single parent. Join Mark and Vic as they chat about skipping meals, hiding food insecurity from your kids and parsnips!

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22:11

From Poland to Manchester: How Zosia found purpose in...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/05/27

Behind every food bag at Bread and Butter is a dedicated volunteer like Zosia. Having escaped living under martial law in Poland, Zosia arrived in the UK in 1982 and immediately took on multiple jobs without seeking government support. This self-reliance continued as she raised three children while working. Join Mark and Alex as they talk about managing on a modest pension, property prices and finding purpose in giving back.

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23:13

Hustle and harmony: A singer’s struggle working three...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/05/19

Singer, vocal coach and part-time carer, Colette doesn’t fit the typical image of someone needing food support. After a divorce in 2021, she faced sudden financial strain but has slowly rebuilt her life. Despite juggling three jobs, a mortgage, and raising two children, she struggled to stay afloat and was without a permanent home for five months. Join Mark and Alex as they talk “mystery dinners” from the weekly shop, how quickly life can change and dealing with hardship whilst surrounde...

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20:08

A Slice of Life Special: “I lived off beans so my son...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/05/14

As part of our Slice of Life campaign and our mission to make life more affordable for working families, this week’s episode focuses on James. James is a support worker and devoted young dad doing everything he can to make sure his little boy is well fed, “I’ve lived off beans for two days to make sure my son eats properly”. Even with two incomes and careful budgeting, James and his partner still find themselves struggling to cover the basics. A situation common for so many of our members at ...

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18:14

Working full time, still struggling: What happens...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/05/06

From hospital wards to hub volunteering, Sarah bulldozes her way through life with tonnes of energy, honesty and humour. Despite working 12-hour shifts as a healthcare assistant, she makes time every Saturday to volunteer at our Neon hub in Oldham. Join Mark and Alex as they chat about the reality of working full-time yet still struggling, challenge assumptions about who needs food support and Pickles the wolf-whistling parrot.

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26:54

Food insecurity in schools: One headteacher's mission

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/04/28

Tucked away in leafy Cheshire, Broken Cross Primary's Headteacher Donna is leading a quiet revolution in how schools support struggling families. Like so many schools these days, it offers so much more than education. With nearly half of its pupils qualifying for free school meals, Donna's team are trained to spot signs of need to make sure no child slips through the cracks. Join Mark and Vic as they chat with Donna about the growing pressures on working families, why Bread and Butter i...

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22:06

Smell it, don't bin it: One man's crusade against...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/04/22

"Smell it, smell it, use your eyes and use your nose!" declares James, this week's entertaining podcast guest. After precisely "50 years, 9 months and 13 days" in engineering across the Merchant Navy, Army, and food production industries, James now keeps himself out of mischief with Bread and Butter and tending to his allotment. Join Mark and Alex as they enjoy James's opinions on sustainability, food systems and generational attitudes toward food waste.

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21:53

From empty cupboards to Westminster: Meet the...

A Slice of Bread and Butter ·

2025/04/14

Penny Walters tells it like it is. It's this Northern grit, honesty and fearlessness that's made her the go-to community figure in Byker that she is today. Join Mark and Alex as they chat with Penny about her incredible journey from working 70-hour weeks at a supermarket, surviving on pasta with margarine to speaking at Westminster about food insecurity as a Food Foundation ambassador.

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82 results

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