We’d all promised to stay in touch, but Christmas had come and gone, and we hadn’t seen him. We’d done a few shifts at the food bank and Mum had called Janice a few times, but they were always busy. Jacob had moved on, and it bothered me. He was a real friend and I missed him.

“Some idiot just stood on my foot,” I heard Freya say.

“Huh?”

“Over by the foam bananas,” she said. “I need my Batman.”

I didn’t know what she expected me to do, but I followed her to the pick ’n’ mix.

“Awright, Batman,” a voice said.

“Jacob!”

He looked different. His hair was longer, and he seemed relaxed, almost happy. Freya nudged me and started giggling.

“Did you two set me up?” I asked.

“Yeah!” they said together.

“We made a pact, remember?” Jacob said. “Just cos I’m at a new school, it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten my geek squad. Not after what you did for me.”

“We’d better get another ticket,” I said.

“No need,” Freya said. “I bought three. Me in the middle, and my two best mates either side. Come on!”

I looked at Jacob.

“You OK?” I asked. “Like, really …?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Now come on, Bats – your girlfriend’s waiting.”

About The Harder They Fall

Over the past few years, I have grown more and more troubled and angry at the rise in poverty in the UK. From our towns and cities, to the countryside and the coast, more and more people are being forced to make ends meet with less.

The UK is one of the richest countries on Earth, yet every day children go to school hungry, those with disabilities struggle to pay bills, and pensioners and parents go without. The Trussell Trust, which runs 400 food banks in the UK, gave out over 1.1 MILLION food parcels between April 2015 and March 2016, and the situation is getting worse rather than better.

On the other hand, people from bankers to politicians, from footballers to so-called celebrities, are getting richer and richer. In the meantime, the poorest people in society grow ever poorer as they fall even further behind the richest. The Office for National Statistics, which is the UK’s official voice on these matters, says that the situation is unbalanced in the extreme.

For example, 10% of households in the UK own 45% of the UK’s wealth. By way of contrast, the poorest 50% of households own only 8.76% of the wealth. You can read more facts like these on the Equality Trust website.

So, when I was thinking of this story, I knew that Jacob and his mother would be poor. I knew they would be among the millions of people in the UK who go hungry every day for different reasons, from benefit delays to an unexpected bill while on a low income. They would need to use one of the many food banks that provide emergency food and support to people in crisis.