By Lucy Rodgers BBC News

Many parents are struggling to meet the needs of their children

As children's charity Barnardo's warns that the government will fail to halve child poverty by 2010, one father explains how he gets by.

For William the reality of living in poverty struck when his wife was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in 2003.

Forced to give up work to look after her and their two children, William, now 39, was unable to keep up with mortgage payments and ended up losing his house.

The cost of travel to visit his wife in hospital and, when she died in 2005, the resulting funeral costs forced him into debt.

"When she was diagnosed in May 2003, I didn't have a choice, and had to stop work," he said. "This caused the money problems to start."

'Mounting bills'

During his wife's illness, William was confronted with many unexpected expenses.

The hard part is not being able to give my children what they want Poverty target 'to be missed'

"There was lots of travelling for me," said William. "She was isolated and cut off and wanted to see her youngest son twice a day. At that time I had to look after her, two boys and the home."

Despite having a bone marrow transplant in 2004, William's wife later died and the family faced additional funeral costs of �2,100.

"I got myself into debt at that time and I am still trying to get out of it," he said. "It is not through any fault of my own. I just tried to look for a way out and the only way I could see was to borrow."

Now, with two young sons aged 12 and six, William struggles to make ends meet as a single parent at their semi-detached council house in Derby.

Despite trying to return to work, William says he is prevented from doing so by the cost of childcare and transport to get his sons to school.

When he worked, he earned the minimum wage and took home �180 each week. He received additional benefits of �355.

However, he had to pay an average of �40 a week in childcare and �30 a week for his own and his children's transport. This was on top of rent, bills, debt repayments, food and clothes.

"I want to go back to work and provide security and stability for my children," said William. "But it is difficult. The hard part is not being able to give them what they want.

"Particularly with older boys - they are watching the football teams and wanting the same boots as Rooney or Ronaldo or the latest video games. Sometimes I just cannot do it."

Juggling finances

But most months he manages to "shuffle" his money around, he said, "just like Chancellor Gordon Brown" to try to provide his children with what they want.

To help other people in the same situation, William wants to see more support for families struggling on low incomes and a higher minimum wage, which he says is not enough for a single parent with two children.

"The government has got to do a lot more, particularly support for lower-income working families," said William, who has set up a local group for fathers.

Since I lost my wife, my home and my job, I have decided I am going to win back everything that I have lost - and a bit more besides

"There needs to be an incentive to go out to work - to make it worth while - and there needs to be better childcare facilities.

"There also needs to be some way of making employers more aware of single parents and to make them more flexible."

He added: "We have got to prioritise children because every child matters."

But, despite his continued struggle to provide for his family, William is hoping to go back to work soon and remains confident he can win the battle with a little help.

"I lost everything," he said. "But since I lost my wife, my home and my job, I have decided I am going to win back everything that I have lost - and a bit more besides."