Student lives below the poverty line for charity

A Warwick University student lived below the poverty line from 29 April to 3 May in order to raise awareness of poverty. 

Andy King, first-year Philosophy and Literature undergraduate, lived below the poverty line in his ‘Andy Lives Below the Line’ challenge.

In the five days, Andy spent a total of £4.52 on groceries, an average of £1 a day on food and drink.

His groceries list included eggs, bread, stock cubes, sausages, mixed vegetables, peas, canned potatoes, baked beans and rice, most of which were part of the Tesco Value range.

When asked what he struggled with most, Andy replied: “Keeping going. Sticking to the official line of ‘please don’t try and donate food, just donate’ was really tough, especially on the two days I had food poisoning.”

Andy lived on two meals a day except for his third day, when he ate nothing as a result of having contracted food poisoning.

On his third day, Andy wrote of his food poisoning: “I think this is the most terrifying part of the challenge.

“… Someone in extreme poverty would not be able to afford [going to the doctor], and even if they did manage to save up, the condition would be far worse by that time.”

Andy believed that the food poisoning was most likely caused by the poor quality of the sausage in his first meal. “Because it was so cheap it was either dodgy meat or just didn’t cook on the inside by the time I’d literally burnt the outside…

“I don’t think it was linked to eating less… though the recovery time taking longer than usual was likely due to eating less.”

He also commented on his overall experience: “I learned about… the dread of rice and frozen mixed vegetables again and again, and I learned how much I take for granted [with luxuries such as] salt, pepper, sugar.

“I wouldn’t repeat the experience, because it was tough. Really tough. But I’m definitely glad I did it. I now know how lucky I am to have… the food available in this country that I have access to.”

Daniel Cope, first-year English Literature undergraduate and a friend of Andy’s, commented: “I think [Andy’s project] was extremely hard, but it was the only way you could empathise with impoverished people.”

A student who would prefer to remain anonymous, however, told the Boar: “It’s great that [Andy] has an awareness [of poverty] but it’s not an accurate portrayal of how poor people live everyday. He was performing what he thought being poor was about, but it wasn’t actually being poor.”

As well as raising awareness of poverty, Andy’s five-day challenge was intended to raise money for ‘Andy Cycles to Paris for Practical Action’.

From his challenge alone, Andy managed to raise a total of £142 for his cycling project, with £62 coming from friends and £80 coming from family.

Andy is raising money for Practical Action, which uses technology to challenge poverty around the world providing communities with basic luxuries such as clean water and cooking hobs.