IN this tough economic climate we are all feeling the pinch, but Miranda Topham from Blake­ney has taken it to the next level, as she set her family the challenge to live off a £1 a day in aid of raising money for Oxfam.

The 20-year-old took part in the 'Living Below the Poverty Line' challenge for five days to experience what it meant to do just that.

She said: "There are 1.4 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty and I wanted to do my bit to raise awareness of the issue.

"There are four of us in my family and we had £1 a day per person to live off so you can imagine our horror when we went to the local supermarket with £20 to buy a weeks shop.

"We planned our meals and checked online where we could find the cheapest food. We mainly stocked up on cheap home branded carbohydrates such as bread, pasta and potatoes and managed to buy a bag of frozen vegetables which weren't very nice – but it was the most nutritious thing we had. And buying meat wasn't an option.

"We literally found out early on that we couldn't eat healthily on a shoestring budget, and that we had to pre-plan every meal, not buy snacks, count how many slices of toast we could eat every day and not buy any snacks when we were hungry."

Miranda who is currently at Cardiff University studying Biology is revising for her forthcoming exams.

She said: "My biggest concern about the challenge wasn't being hungry, but the fact that food in our household is an enjoyable way for us all to socialise, and each day it was daunting to sit down knowing that we were eating dull meals. I tend to snack a lot when revising so not being able to do that was testing and what's worse is that I have just returned from Belgium and knew there were some chocolates taped up in the cupboard!"

So far the Topham family have raised £82 for Oxfam's lifesaving work during the 'Live Below the Line' campaign.

Miranda added: "It's shocking that there are people who live off a £1 a day and have to stretch their tiny budget to cover living costs from food to buying school uniforms. I challenge anyone to live off a £1. One thing I have learnt is not to take food for granted and to only buy food that I need as opposed to want."

Natasha Kyprianou, community fundraising manager for Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, said: "Living Below the Poverty Line is a unique experience which unfortunately is a reality for 1.4 billion people worldwide. Often people have to choose between feeding their family or paying for life-saving healthcare to paying for heating.

"We encourage more people in Gloucestershire to join Miranda and her family to experience what it's really like to live below the poverty line."