A DESPERATE family have told how they have been forced to rely on candles to heat their home and a soup kitchen to feed themselves.
Mohamed Radwan says his family cannot afford to run their heating because of the surge in energy prices, despite freezing temperatures gripping the central belt.
The 40-year-old is struggling to make ends meet on Universal Credit after fleeing war-torn Syria in the hope of starting a better life in Glasgow.
Mohamed, who is a fully trained pharmacist, is desperate to find employment to provide for his wife Alia and two children Kenan, five, and three-year-old Abdulmalek, and he fears his children won’t have any presents to open on Christmas Day.
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He exclusively told the Glasgow Times: “It wasn’t safe for my family to remain in Syria, and we have been touched by the kindness people have shown us since we arrived in Glasgow.
“We’ve always been hard-working professionals, I’m a qualified pharmacist and my wife is an English teacher. We both want to start working so that we can give our children the life they deserve.
“Right now, it’s a struggle to survive. Once I’ve paid rent, council tax, gas, electricity and other bills, there’s virtually nothing left. We cannot run the heating as it’s just too expensive and we rely on candles for warmth. It costs £15 every two days to top up the pre-payment meter and we just don’t have that spare.
“It’s been very tough this week as the temperatures have gone below freezing. We are wearing extra clothing just to try and stay warm and trying to make sure we all keep to the one single room in our flat.”
Mohamed and his family are currently living in temporary accommodation in Broomhill, and after learning of their plight, staff at Homeless Project Scotland offered to help.
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The charity, which runs a food kitchen, an outreach support arm and supplies over 130,000 meals to the homeless and vulnerable each year, were moved by the family’s story and stepped in to offer fuel vouchers and food.
Mohamed says the organisation has been a lifeline to his family over the last few months, and to thank them for their support, the kind dad is now volunteering his own time at their shop in Govan and their hot meals service for the homeless in Glasgow while he tries to restart his career.
He said: “I can’t thank Homeless Project Scotland enough. They go above and beyond to help people in need and my family will be forever grateful for the support we’ve been given.
“They have given us fresh food, fuel vouchers and so much advice. I’ve always been a very proud man and offering my time to them is just my way of giving something back.
“It is Abdulmalek’s birthday this week and I haven’t been able to buy him a present yet. I told him that things as hard for us as a family just now, but as soon as I am allowed to work, I will buy him everything that he wants. It is very difficult not being able to do something as simple as make a birthday special for your son.”
Chair of Homeless Project Scotland, Colin McInnes, told the Glasgow Times the charity was keen to help the Radwans.
He said: “As soon as we realised they had no heating or electricity, we knew we had to step in. Mohamed and his family are struggling to survive on benefits and unfortunately this is something we are hearing a lot of now.
“More and more people are turning to us for help, and as the freezing weather sets in people are having to chose between heating and eating, which in this day and age is just not good enough. Changes to people’s benefits, such as the Cold Weather Payment, hasn’t helped in my opinion and things don’t show any sign of getting any better anytime soon.
“It’s an unacceptable situation that people are facing. We are providing hot meals to families who just can’t find the money to pay for food. It is heartbreaking handing out slices of bread to kids who are queuing up in the cold for something to eat. Something needs to change as people can’t be left to live like this.”
Just £5 a month can help Homeless Project Scotland continue to offer hot meals, support, hygiene packs and advice to those in need.
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