RICE, pasta and porridge are just some of the items on the menu for Carrie Napier this week as she lives on just £1 a day.

The 26-year-old, of Rodbourne, has taken up the five-day challenge to raise awareness of people living below the poverty line and raise funds for Christian Aid.

Carrie, who has raised £240 so far, said the first day was the hardest.

“People don’t necessarily know about poverty in the UK, this is just to raise awareness,” she said.

“The first day was really tough. I don’t think I shopped as well as I could have, I didn’t plan properly.”

Around the world, 1.4 billion people survive on less than a £1 a day and their pound has to buy more than just food.

Yesterday, Carrie had porridge made with water for breakfast, spaghetti hoops on toast for lunch and pasta with passata and mushrooms for dinner.

“I am definitely meeting the £1 target. I am not going to live on £1 a day after the challenge finishes,” she said.

“It is difficult to vary it, everything has been quite samey because I have to budget for an entire packet of food.”

Carrie is taking part in the challenge with Abbie Heath, of Churchward, who is raising funds for Unicef.

Also in their shopping basket for the week were rice, potatoes, beans and carrots, which came to a total of £9.99 including the other ingredients mentioned above. It is 1p below their combined £10 budget.

“Many people think that prices in the UK are more expensive than in developing countries but that isn’t necessarily true,” Carrie said.

“In Gaza cooking oil is three times the price than in the UK, and in Tajikistan, Central Asia a bag of sugar costs the same as in our supermarkets.”

Carrie is hoping other people will take the challenge between May 7 and 11. Last year, 10,000 people worldwide took up the Live Below The Line challenge and raised more than £1m..

The money raised through sponsorship will help people like Mehrnigor, in Tajikistan, a single mother of two boys.

She earns 28p a day working on a farm and and struggles to feed her family. When asked what she would do if someone gave her the equivalent of £1, Mehrnigor said she would buy four potatoes, four onions, half a cabbage and a little oil.

“I would make a large pot of our national soup that would feed my whole family for three days in the cold winter months,” she said.

To sponsor Carrie visit live belowtheline.com/me/ carrienapier.

To take part visit www.live belowtheline.com/uk-christianaid.