A SINGLE mother from Glasgow was left with no money to feed her children after her benefit was cut.

Tracy McGowan said she had only icepoles left in her freezer when, tearful and desperate, she turned to a food bank for help.

She was given enough food to put meals on the table and said she would forever be grateful to those who saved her children from going hungry.

But Tracy, who lives in Knightswood, said she never thought she would find herself so low. She is also fearful about the ever-worsening effects issue of food poverty.

She said: "I am worried it will continue to get worse, that more and more people will become desperate and we will see people looting and shoplifting to survive.

"I can't believe how bad things have become."

Tracy, 43, is one of an increasing number of people across the city who are struggling to feed themselves.

The Evening Times reported last week how food bank charity The Trussell Trust - which runs food banks in Calton, Scotstoun and Govanhill - helped 2218 people in the city after they turned to it for help between April and the end of last month.

During the same period last year, 240 people in Glasgow were fed by the Trust, but only the Govanhill food bank was open at this time.

The Trussell Trust says 23,082 men, women and children in Scotland used food banks from April to the end of last month, against 4021 last year.

Welfare reforms, rising living costs, and loss of employ­ment have been cited as the reasons more and more people in Glasgow are being forced into poverty.

Tracy says that in her case it was sanctions imposed by the JobCentre that left her with no money to live on.

Tracy, who lives with her son, 11, and daughter, 19, in Lincoln Avenue, was getting Jobseeker's Allowance while she searched for a job.

She checked her bank account one day and found there was no money there. After asking JobCentre staff why, she was told she had been sanctioned for not applying for jobs - despite attending an interview in the JobCentre days before.

The mum, who has a number of medical conditions, including arthritis and diabetes, was given just £40 to live on.

She said: "After I had paid my bills, gas and electricity, I had £10 left."

So she went to the Glasgow North West Food Bank at Blawarthill Parish Church, Scotstoun.

She said: "It is hard to explain the relief and gratitude you feel when someone gives bags of food that you know you would not be able to buy.

"Some people say they have felt ashamed or embarrassed having to use a food bank, but I didn't. I would do anything to feed my kids."

Her benefits have returned to normal, but she is still facing a backlog of bills from when her money was cut.

Recently, volunteers from the national charity Christians Against Poverty took her for a weekly grocery shop.

She said: "It is great to know I can make meals like stew - it has been a long time since I could afford to buy all the ingredients for stew.

"I don't have a lot of luxuries and I can accept that because I am not working. But finding yourself without even the basics is scary."

Tracy continues to look for a job.

She said: "I would love to have enough money to take my children on holiday. That would be lovely."

linzi.watson@ eveningtimes.co.uk