A regional daily reporter managed to spend just £1 on food and drink a day to highlight the difficulties facing those living below the poverty line.

Matt Lloyd from the Birmingham Mail took on the five-day challenge for the Live Below The Line campaign, which calls on families in the developed world to experience the same problems as 1.4bn people across the globe.

The campaign starts on 2 May to raise funds for five charities – Christian Aid, Salvation Army, Results UK, Restless Development and Think Global – who all campaign to end poverty.

And Matt decided to undertake the challenge last week to encourage other people to try it next month or donate to the appeal, writing in the Mail each day about the difficulties of it and also filming a daily video diary about it.

In an article about the first day of the challenge Matt said: “Some people suggested that having just £1 a day to spend on food and drink would be a piece of cake, only without the cake.

“When I went shopping, with only a fiver, to see me through my working week of five days it was pretty clear this was going to be anything but easy.

“The impact of my extreme budget hit home straight away as I began my challenge yesterday morning.

“Like millions of other people the first thing I did to welcome the week was reach for the kettle. Unfortunately coffee, tea, sugar and milk were all too much for my budget to bear.

“Instead I had to settle for a glass of water and a bowl of porridge. I felt like poor little Oliver Twist.”

For his first day, his lunch consisted of just an apple and his dinner was a bowl of rice with peas.

The impact on Matt of the challenge was assessed by dietician Paul McArdle who estimated he would only be eating half of his required calories each day and long-term, the diet would have serious health implications.

Added Matt: “I had to keep reminding myself this is only five days and that for 1.4 billion people across the globe this is what they are faced with every day of every week for their whole lives.

“It helped me keep perspective, but it didn’t make me feel any less hungry.”