Very similar story. Non-professional single parent, lived on a pretty rundown council estate, attended a garbage school, didn't eat breakfast because we couldn't afford it. My mum used the proceeds from her quitting smoking to buy a PC, and I took to it like a duck to water.

I have a lot of the same type of survivor guilt you describe. 3 of the kids from my estate died from violence & knife crime, several more from overdoses - came fairly close to this myself. Feels like it's the flip of a coin sometimes for who gets access to this more comfy life and who doesn't.

I work in data science for a B-Corp that researches socioeconomic policy for the developing world, at a good but significantly lower salary than I could get if I went to a hedge or pension fund and did it there. The work I do has meaning, and underpins real world policy decisions that have material difference to people's lives.

I give pretty substantial donations to charities like Crash Course too: https://thecrashcourse.com, which aims to provide quality education for free to everyone. I feel like maybe my donation helps this organisation lift people out of the same trap I was in. The good side of the coin-flip for me was really access to extra curricular education on the internet I think.

I buy those food bank bags whenever I go into Morrisons. I just try to pay it forward in pretty much everything I do really. I don't have the social skills for stuff like working in local charities interfacing directly with people, so don't think I'd be a lot of use there.