A Slice of Bread and Butter
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.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 20 minutes
- Episodes
- 64
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Surviving and Thriving: Betti's Journey from Arranged Marriage to Community Catalyst
"Food is a luxury." These four words from Betti, a British-Asian single mother in Newcastle, cut straight to the heart of Britain's cost of living crisis. In this powerful episode of A …
The Day We Lost Everything: Rebuilding Through Community
What happens when your life savings vanish overnight? For Karen, this devastating reality struck when a £150,000 investment in her daughter's business venture collapsed due to contractu…
Single Mum Superhero: Tracy's Unfiltered Story
"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 stru…
When Life Changes Course: Navigating Benefits While Caring for a Loved One
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…
Community Catalyst: How Food Creates Transformation
"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 transform…
Financially Stuck: The Hidden Struggle of Working Families
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 comm…
The Benefits Labyrinth: Tracy Finds Her Way Through
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. …
Lost and Found: Farid's Journey
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 o…
Food clubs offer more than just affordable food—they build communities.
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 mo…
From Social Worker to Service User
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 …
The New Normal: When Full-Time Work Isn't Enough
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…
When debt becomes your comfort zone, change feels like the real risk
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 challengin…
Beyond Food and Fuel: Working Families', Hidden Struggles
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 discus…
Can We Fix a Food System Built for Quantity Not Quality?
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-op…
Celebrating Erin: A community star this National Volunteer Week
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, com…
From Poland to Manchester: How Zosia found purpose in giving back
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…
Hustle and harmony: A singer’s struggle working three jobs
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…
A Slice of Life Special: “I lived off beans so my son could eat” says Carer James
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 youn…
Working full time, still struggling: What happens when wages don't stretch
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 ma…
Food insecurity in schools: One headteacher's mission
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 off…