MEGA BINGO
I'm 35 years old and I've lived in Peterborough for most of my adult life. My wife and I have been together for five years and married for three. She's a year younger than me and works at a beauty store in Queensgate Shopping Centre. I'm a lorry driver, doing long-distance deliveries across England. The company's depot is on an industrial estate just outside the city. To be honest, our life was pretty normal. We had no real complaints. We rented a two-bedroom flat with a small balcony and paid £1,250 a month. We did our food shopping at Tesco, Sainsbury's, or Aldi when we were trying to save a bit more money. In winter we'd spend a few days in Scotland or the Lake District, and for the last three summers we'd rented a small cottage in Cornwall for around £900 a week. Life was comfortable. The only thing that genuinely broke our hearts was that we couldn't have a child. We tried for three years. Tests, scans, medication, specialists. We did everything they told us to do. Nothing worked. Eventually a doctor at a private fertility clinic sat us down and said: "Naturally, it's very unlikely to happen. IVF is your best option." We started treatment in autumn 2025. The first cycle cost us £5,800. It failed. The second cost another £4,700. More than £10,000 altogether. £7,000 came from a personal loan. The rest came from our savings. "It's for our baby. It'll be worth it," my wife kept saying. Thankfully, the second cycle worked. The doctor warned us immediately: "The first few weeks are the most delicate. Avoid stress and get plenty of rest." My wife was over the moon. And that's exactly when everything started going wrong. At the beginning of 2026, the company lost several major contracts. There was less work available, fewer miles to drive and fewer bonuses. I used to bring home somewhere between £2,800 and £3,000 a month. Suddenly I was earning just over £2,100. A few weeks later things got even worse. Some of our biggest clients reduced their
