Meet Jodie

Jodie standing with her husband Ollie
Jodie and her husband Ollie

During the pandemic, we have supported many struggling families and individuals hit hardest by the pandemic, including mum-of-four, Jodie, whose life was turned upside down when her fiancé Ollie lost his job as a freelance car parts sprayer when everything shut down in March, reducing their income to zero and forcing them to cancel their wedding and their plans to buy a home before finally declaring themselves bankrupt.

Even when work picked up again over the summer, the family were using every penny to pay off debts built up during lockdown and found themselves relying on the church and charity for food, gas and electricity.

Jodie says; “I have no idea how we keep going. I lost my nan in July and had a miscarriage in September, I have not been able to grieve because everything else is so stressful. I just have to get up and carry on because I have four children. As much as I would like to just curl up in a ball and cry and cry and cry, I can’t do that. I have to deal with the here and now.”

 “Overnight our income went to zero. It was awful, but we could not sit around moping. We knew we had children to feed and electricity to pay for, but we were frantic.” 
Jodie

Jodie continues; “We have no idea where we would be without Victoria and Shawn from The Salvation Army. I would not like to think where we would have ended up. They were like angels out of nowhere turning up on our doorstep at the beginning of lockdown and have helped us ever since.”

Corps officer Lieutenant Victoria Moye said: “Helping Jodie and her family has been a privilege because before the pandemic we had never met. Being able to come alongside someone and share the load when life is hard to me, is a privilege. The family were hitting rock bottom and were in a very dark place with no hope. As The Salvation Army and as Christians, we are here to show others that there is always hope and light in the world and although I couldn't change a lot of what they were experiencing, I would walk the road with them and hopefully make life a bit brighter!

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