THINK back.

Stretch your imagination and try to remember when you last worried about having enough food to eat?

When did you last fret about whether to switch the heater on, stay in bed or sit in your sleeping bag?

Thankfully, the answer for most of us is a resounding never.

The frightening truth is that even in Dorset - one of the wealthiest counties in the country - poverty is still a grim reality many families face every day.

The face of the rural landscape has changed dramatically and incomes, never the highest, have been badly hit.

Traditional ways of making money in cottage industries have fallen prey to intensive farming, supermarket giants and all-round globalisation.

The vast differences between the rich and the poor in West Dorset have existed for centuries - but now, at least, there is help available to families caught in the poverty trap.

Dr Margaret Barker, 59, is a founder member of Dorchester Poverty Action Group, which works with people in dire need in the area to help them back on their feet.

She said: "Poverty is affecting people in town and country alike, but it can be especially hard for people in the villages.

"We have had a lot of requests for help recently. I don't think there are more people in need but our work is more well known now - more people know we are here to help them."

The group gives out meal tickets, supermarket tokens at Christmas and grants for people who have been referred to them by social workers, health visitors, vicars and the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Dr Barker is also a founder member of the 12-year-old Dorset Credit Union, which aims to help people budget more effectively and offers low rate loans to its members when their income drops below the breadline.

She said: "Some people are on a variable wage, which means that some weeks they get paid above the level for income support, other weeks they get nothing at all.

"This particularly affects farm workers - they get fed up with trying to apply for benefits and filling in long forms.

"Because they just can't go through the application process for benefits every week they have out of work, they just say well, I won't eat this week."

Dr Barker added that because the DSS office is in Dorchester, people often cannot get there from the villages.

She said: "If they have a car and it breaks down they can't pay for it to be repaired, then they can't afford to tax it and there goes their transport for work - it's a vicious circle. What we will do sometimes is to give the garage an assurance that the bill will be paid - we won't necessarily pay the whole bill, but we pay enough for the garage to know it won't be out of pocket."

Many services have been set up to ensure that nobody has to live in abject poverty in the region.

Second Chance Furniture in Lynch Lane in Weymouth sells donated furniture or gives it free, depending on the person's finances. People can be referred there or just go to the shop and be prepared to explain their circumstances.

Some of the most frightening and swift cases of poverty occur when a family member falls ill, or if a child has to go into hospital.

Dr Barker said: "They are completely unprepared for the loss of income, the travel expenses and telephone charges from the hospital - Southampton General Hospital's charges are very expensive, but they have to let other people know how the child is."

The action group also works with the Salvation Army to help rough sleepers, to provide them with meals and showers and fresh clothing on a daily basis from the United Church in South Street, Dorchester.

To make a donation, or for information on the Poverty Action Group, contact Dr Barker on (01305) 260959.

For information on the Credit Union, contact (01305) 257460.

Second Chance Furniture is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am-4pm. Contact (01305) 766621.

The helpline for people in the farming industry facing financial problems is The Addington Fund on (02476) 858345.

Off the streets and into comfort

WHEN the rented Weymouth house he was living in started crumbling around him, 41-year-old Colin Coop frantically tried to get his landlord to do something.

But he says the property had deteriorated so badly there was nothing he could do but move.

He didn't have the money to put down a deposit on a decent flat and couldn't find clean accommodation, so he found himself on the streets, little knowing that would be his way of life for nearly four years.

Over the next few months he tried to keep himself going, looking around for a home, but he says he could not find himself a decent place.

Three freezing cold winters took their toll on his health - he slept at Weymouth bus station most nights, but sometimes he would find bed and breakfast accommodation.

Now, after he turned to the Dorchester Poverty Action Group for help, Colin is living in a clean flat in the county town and says he cannot praise the work of the group enough.

Colin, who now works as a kitchen assistant, said: "The worst thing was not having anywhere permanent to live.

"I stayed in hostels every so often, but they were absolutely awful, full of drunks and people with drug problems - I just didn't want that.

"I got help through many people, the Salvation Army, Reverend Alan Wickens at the United Church, the Rector of Chickerell and The Lantern Centre, they have all been so good to me.

"There is so little good, affordable accommodation around, but through Magna and the Bournemouth Churches Housing Association, they found me this place in Trinity Street and it is lovely - really tidy and clean."

Grant helps Suzanne make a fresh start

SUZANNE, a young woman from Bridport, successfully came off hard drugs with a lot of help, and after 18 months in specialist sheltered accommodation, she was able to live independently at last.

She had a small flat to go to and had bought or been given enough furniture to move in - but she had no money left to pay for a van and driver to collect these items and deliver them. A grant from the Poverty Action Group for just £50 enabled her to move in and make a new start.

Christopher and Ian, from Dorchester, both disabled men in their 30s, were living in a care home after their parents had died.

But they wanted to move out and live independently and care staff supported them in their wish to live in their own sheltered flat. They got beds, chairs and tables from Second Chance Furniture but they needed a cooker and fridge to be able to live within their budgets for food.

PAG came up with a grant for £110 and their social worker helped them buy a safe secondhand fridge and cooker.

A young couple from West Dorset, who had two children at primary school, had a tragic car accident in which the husband was killed. After the immediate crisis period, the young widow realised that she could not maintain the mortgage and other expenses unless she found work. Fortunately, she got a job, but so quickly that the Easter school holiday was upon her before she had received her first pay cheque and found holiday care for the children.

A grant of £70 from PAG enabled her to book them a childminder and holiday clubs. This boost gave her just the help she needed to get on with her new way of life.

Dr Margaret Barker said: "In these cases and lots of others, PAG tries to give a small amount of financial help at a point where that can make quite a big difference. In addition now, we are trying to encourage all those who receive a grant to start saving with the First Dorset Credit Union."

Requests to group for cash help are steadily growing

DORCHESTER Poverty Action Group (PAG) provides vital support when all other agencies are unable to help.

All the cash raised - £7,350 last year - comes from donations, and with requests for help steadily growing the group needs more help than ever before. It has just released its annual report, in which it describes the situation facing people in desperate financial straits in West Dorset.

It says: 'The community care grant is the only source of money for such people, but that has a waiting time before the applicant knows if it has been granted'.

The only agency on hand to help is PAG, which brings the churches of Dorchester together to organise donations of toys to the Women's Refuge, and food vouchers.

But the majority of the money donated goes directly to families in need. Last year PAG gave grants of up to £150 to 37 families, totalling £3,770. Meal vouchers accounted for £1,290. One of the ways people can help is by donating items for a special auction being organised by the Rev Alan Wickens at the United Church. Contact him on (01305) 262421.