Colchester: Back to basics for East Africa

“I have got so used to spending far too much on things which are not necessary (even though I convince myself they are) such as lavish meals out, a bottle of Chablis after a ‘tough day’, shopping sprees, raiding the Clinique beauty counter, moaning about no payrises, the economic climate etc etc the list goes on.”

How many of us can identify with this? I know personally I feel like I’m missing out if I can’t afford to go out for dinner one week or have to buy own brand washing up liquid.

Imagine food prices rising so much that you could barely afford to feed yourself and your family one meal a day, let alone a meal out. This is the situation millions of people are facing in East Africa.

Chloe’s mission

Chloe Thompson, from Colchester in Essex, heard about Save the Children’s work in East Africa and started to think about how lucky she felt.

She realised she had got used to spending far too much money each week on luxuries, and decided to go ‘back to basics’ spending only £10 a week on food, personal expenses and entertainment for six months.

Chloe is raising awareness and funds for Save the Children through her campaigning, and is also hoping to learn how to live without some of the things she had been taking for granted.

Three weeks in and Chloe isn’t finding things easy. She admits it’s tough living without her daily can of Diet Coke to help her through the day or a glass of wine in the evening, however she is determined to carry on.

You can keep up with Chloe’s progress on her blog: CJ Back to Basics

Chloe isn’t the only one who has been supporting our emergency work in East Africa. We’ve had a really busy couple of weeks here in Supporter Care due to the huge response since we launched our appeal.

Our only hope is that once the media coverage fades, and East Africa stops appearing on the news every evening, our wonderful supporters won’t forget that the people there still need our help.