Case Study 1

Mr A lived with his four children, aged between 7 and 14. His only income was in the form of benefits - Working Family Tax Credit with an Income Support top-up and Child Benefit - £192 per week altogether. Sounds quite a reasonable amount, even for a family of five, until we looked at his regular outgoings:-

• the regular weekly payments he should make soon cleared that, and that was without buying any food for the family - he said he usually spent £45 per week on that, so no treats there for four young lads
• his annual bill from Yorkshire Water was almost £350, but he still owed a similar amount from the previous year
• he had outstanding priority debt arrears totalling a further £2,600 for Rent, Council Tax and Gas

The Trustees made an award of £439.17 to Mr A, which was paid direct to Yorkshire Water and credited to his water bill. This paid his water charges up to the date of the Trust meeting, so he then only had the ongoing charges to think about. We were also able to advise him that he may be entitled to free school meals, which were costing him £25 per week.

This may not have got Mr A out of the debt circle, but the Trustees hope and strongly believe that they were able to do something to improve the quality of life for this family (and many others) in the long term.

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