Cost of living: Suffolk and Essex students share their struggles

As the the cost of living increasesUniversity staff and students tell how young people struggle and what help is available for them.

It’s not long until the school year, but Eloise Churchman has already planned her Christmas vacation — to work most days to try to make ends meet.

“My living expenses don’t even cover my accommodation, so I have to put up around £300 myself for that, so the food only comes from my own money,” says the University of Essex student.

“So I work most days over the Christmas holidays to try and get the money to do my grocery shopping and just have some fun money to socialize because that’s obviously a very important part of maintaining good mental health .”

The second-year multimedia journalism student, who lives on campus and hails from Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, says she has seen a “dramatic” rise in the price of food and bills over the past year.

“The concern is that it will continue like this,” she says. “You have to think carefully about whether you can afford to go out for a cup of coffee or whether you can afford to buy this textbook.”

She says she also has to be careful when planning meals so she can “eat right even on a budget.”

“I freeze whatever I can, I buy a lot of dry ingredients, and if I buy fresh fruit and veg, I make sure I’ve definitely planned a meal for it so it doesn’t go to waste,” she says.

“We know students who currently have two or three jobs that they just can’t live and survive in, let alone gain experience,” says Nashwa Alsakka.

The President of the University of Essex Student Union says you see students who “literally walk into a shop and have £5 and hope they can get by on two or three days’ worth of meals”.

“I have a certain student who has budgeted £20 a week for groceries and in the situation we are in where groceries have 15% inflation, how can he survive on £20 for groceries for a week ? It’s completely impossible,” she says.

“It’s not just about students having money to survive, but how can a student who is having a sleepless night actually make money to survive and focus on their studies?”

Ms Alsakka says the university and union are doing “as much as we can,” including providing subsidized meals and increasing the hardship fund.

But she worries about students who may “suffer in silence.”

At the University of Suffolk, the Students’ Union paints a similar picture.

“There’s just not enough money to socialize, buy new clothes, buy books. People have to make sacrifices and take extra jobs,” says Alex Gooch, union education president.

“But the day does not have enough time to earn money and study.”

He says it is “not easy” for any of the students and the union is trying to cover a “broad spectrum” of initiatives funded by the university.

“We make parking free, we put on free packed lunches that go every day, we put up free tea and coffee and take a puff from our own services because students can’t afford that luxury. ” he says.

He says even though times are tough, they’re seeing “quite a lot of determination and positivity.”

“People come together and band together to work together and volunteer, people donate clothes so people can give to their children and for themselves,” he adds.

At the Ipswich-based university, many students have “complex lives,” says Executive Director Prof Helen Langton.

She says 75% of her students are mature, meaning they are over 24 years old, 65% are women and 75% live off campus or in Ipswich, so are commuter students.

“They come to their meeting and go home. They already have jobs before they come here, they have families, they have elderly parents to take care of,” she says.

“We find that students don’t like to say they need help. It’s a proud thing, it’s a maturity [thing]’I try to be everything to everyone’.”

Prof Langton, who is also vice chancellor, says they encourage students to admit they need help.

“We launched the Suffolk Community Foundation Winter Hardship Fund here at the university last week,” she says.

“There are funds available. We just have to help the students figure out where to go.”

“Hands-on Aid” has now been set up at the University of Essex, says Prof Madeleine Eacott, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education.

These include subsidized meals and the hardship fund has tripled from last year to £1.5million, she says.

“We have expanded the range of things that our students can apply for this fund to include travel expenses, course fees, childcare assistance and a variety of things,” adds Prof Eacott.

“What we say to our students is that we know that all of your needs are different. So if you have any problems, talk to us and we can see how we can support you.”

She says the university has frozen rents for those living on its Southend campus and on the Colchester campus it has capped the rise “to a lot less than inflation so that’s a fall in real terms”.

“Despite the fact that these are tough times, we really want to support our students to succeed in their studies,” she says.

Find BBC News: East of England Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have an email with a story suggestion eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk