A Welshpool parent has told of how he will have to leave the heating off this Christmas as charities warn people facing rising costs.

 A third of children surveyed by a leading charity in Wales fear a friend or classmate won’t get any presents for Christmas due to rising costs. 

New research conducted by UK children's charity Action for Children has revealed that one in three Welsh Children surveyed fear that a friend or classmate will be among the 120,000 Welsh children facing bleak festive season on the breadline.

The charity reports that 35% of the 110 children included in the survey expressed worries that someone they know won’t receive any presents or celebrate Christmas because their family can’t afford it.

A case study in Action for Children’s research heard from Dylan, a Welshpool parent and sole carer for a 15-year-old daughter.

The cost of living crisis saw Dylan take action like not having the heating on when he was alone in the house last winter, promoting the charity to supply him with food vouchers to help him save money and heat his house.

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He said: “I would love to work but for me, in my situation as a single parent carer I haven’t got the ability to do that.

"The reasons are there is no day-care outside of school hours and I cannot hold a job down because of my caring responsibilities. But if there was a way I could do it which is to have more day-care, more help and support, I would.

“So, some of us can’t just go out and earn a bit more. The more you support third sector organisations like Action for Children with after school clubs for example, then that would allow some parents to put more into the economy.

"There are ways you could do it but they said there was a social care plan and it still hasn’t happened.”

As well as the children, 200 Action for Children frontline workers were surveyed on the current conditions for families in Wales, with 75% of the surveyed workers saying that pressure on struggling families is worse than last Christmas.

Brigitte Gater, national director for Action for Children in Wales, said: “The magic of Christmas begins in childhood. But for children on the breadline up and down the UK, it’s anything but magical.

“How do you give a child a Christmas to remember when you’re going without food so they can eat? How can they experience the joy of Christmas if it’s just another day to go to bed hungry and to wake up cold?”

To become a Secret Santa, an Action for Children programme designed to help vulnerable children, visit iamsanta.org.uk