Katie’s story
Katie was struggling financially and not being able to buy the essentials she needed for herself and her children was having a severe impact their quality of life.

Katie is a single parent to three children. She works part-time in a school but her wages are low and she has been finding it increasingly challenging to make ends meet. The cost of her daily essentials, including food and utilities, continues to rise and she also has to find the money to pay for her children to get the bus to school each day.
Katie and two of her children have celiac disease which means it is extremely important that they adhere to a strict diet. However, Katie’s cooker broke some time ago and she hasn’t been able to afford a replacement. This has meant that preparing appropriate and nourishing meals for the family has proved difficult and expensive. Katie has also been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for over two years and as the property currently has a problem with damp, the mattress itself has become damp and soiled and Katie has been suffering with back issues due to sleeping on the floor for such a long period.
Katie has fallen behind on the payments on her utilities and this has been causing her a lot of upset; she doesn’t want to fall further into arrears and could see no way of being able to buy or save for the cooker and bed that she so desperately needed. This has meant that her self-esteem and confidence has been extremely low in recent months.
Thanks to your support we have now been able to step in and help the family, providing a new bed and mattress for Katie and an electric cooker to not only help Katie to feed her family more easily, but to also take some of the significant strain off her daily challenges. Thank you
"It’s fantastic to see all the ways the community comes together to improve the lives of people in need. From undertaking challenges, to dress-up days, quizzes, raffles and cake-bakes, to donating, setting up a regular gift, volunteering or spreading the word, it all helps to ensure people living in hardship are warm, safe and fed and have the basics in life that we all deserve."
Mia lives with her teenage son. She has serious mobility issues which prevent her from taking up paid work and the limited benefits the family receives leave very little after daily essentials are purchased – particularly in the current cost…
Read MoreArlene was referred to us by a council advisor in need of support. Arlene had gone through an extremely difficult time. She had become homeless after being cuckooed by a criminal gang that took over her property and left her…
Read MoreRhea was referred to us by another charity. Rhea has a number of health conditions and lives with a learning disability. Her teenage daughter has also been diagnosed with mental health conditions which makes daily life challenging. Rhea is unable…
Read MoreNita lives alone and suffers from a range of long-term health conditions, including osteoarthritis. She lives in constant pain and struggles with her mobility. Nita was referred by her tenancy support worker who realised she had no storage in her…
Read MoreZard and his family have been struggling. With four children to look after, including one child with a disability, and being unable to work for the past two years due to a heart condition, Zard and his wife are in…
Read MoreJack and Kirsti have spent long periods sleeping rough. They were referred to us by a homeless charity as they have recently been supported in moving into a new local authority tenancy. This gives the opportunity of a more settled…
Read MoreSimone was referred to us by a Welfare Support Officer. She is now caring for her three children on her own since her partner left the family and she has been struggling to cope with all the pressures this presents.…
Read MoreLee, who is in his fifties, was referred to us for help by a local charity as he was in desperate need of a fridge freezer and a washing machine. Lee has worked all his adult life but at the…
Read MoreKim was a teacher but, as a single mum, she moved to a different role so she could meet the childcare needs of her daughter, who is now 11, and this meant a reduction in her income. With the rising…
Read MoreKaren was referred to us for help by another local charity. She has multiple sclerosis and a number of mental health conditions. Unable to work, she struggles to make ends meet. Recently she has been evicted from her furnished property…
Read More