Dame Helen Mirren’s urgent warning as children face winter without warm clothing
Dame Helen Mirren has described it as “heartbreaking” that tens of thousands of children are spending the winter without warm clothes and that some families are “dreading” Christmas because of poverty.
The actress and Barnardo’s ambassador said many families were “barely scraping by” as the charity’s latest research revealed there could be around 300,000 children in England without a winter coat.
Around 15 per cent of parents surveyed by YouGov for the charity said they would struggle to find a coat or warm clothing to keep their children warm this winter, while around 2 per cent of children said they did not have a winter coat.
The charity said it used ONS families and households data from 2024, together with survey findings, to estimate that there could be as many as 300,000 children in the UK without a winter coat and that around 2.2 million parents are struggling to find a warm coat or clothing for their children.
Separately, a recent survey of Barnardo’s frontline staff found that almost half of the 870 workers surveyed had seen children, families and parents go without basic clothing.
Dame Helen said: “While families are scraping by, there are many in the UK even today, it only takes one thing to go wrong and they can fall into crisis. “Parents are always trying to protect their children, feed them and keep them warm.
“I grew up after the war and money was always very tight for us, but I was lucky because my father didn’t get sick and didn’t have to stop working.
“It is heartbreaking that so many children will be hungry and cold this winter and so many families will be worried about the festive season.
“That’s why Barnardo’s is helping families keep the heat on and the fridge stocked.”
The charity is among many campaigning organizations that have repeatedly called for the two-child limit to be removed.
Expectations are high that changes to the policy, which came into force under the Conservative government in 2017 and limits child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households, will be announced in next week’s Budget.
The latest figures through March 2024 estimated that there were 4.45 million children in relatively low-income households; this is a record figure for the UK since similar records began nearly two decades ago.
Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “We know that behind the glitz of the festive season there will be children worrying about eating enough, making do with a coat that’s too small and feeling left out of the celebrations.”
The charity is encouraging people to donate if they can and drop off unwanted, pre-loved children’s winter coats at their local Barnardo’s charity shop.
Barnardo’s said 1,016 children aged 6 to 15 and 1,132 UK parents of children aged 18 and under were surveyed online by YouGov in October.
