Things here at the Biscuit Fund have been quite tough just lately. The demand for assistance from us has more than doubled, much more than that even. The cases we used to receive in a week, we are now receiving more of in a single day. The nights are drawing in and it is much colder and energy costs can go through the roof if you are in rented accommodation with inadequate heating. Running space heaters in homes without central heaters can gobble through the credit you might have on a prepayment meter. It’s not just cases of fuel poverty we help out with, we are also seeing a sharp increase in help needed for people that are street homeless, and being out on the streets when it is very cold and dark is a very different experience to the long warm days of summer. If you are on the streets and your clothes get wet, where do you dry them, do you ever feel warm even? If you would like to help us help others less fortunate, then please follow this link and make a one-time donation, or set up a regular payment arrangement. When an article is written about us we do get a flood of donations which is wonderful, but when that awareness of us has died down, sadly the cases we help still need our help, and we need your assistance to make that happen. If you are not in a position to help us financially, then getting the word out helps us too, please share this post via your social media to help us reach as many people as possible. The following are just a few of the many cases we have helped in the past few days.
We sent £30 to a lady who has been forced to sell the energy drinks that were supplied to her to help with her health, in order that she can top up her energy meters. When our agent visited her, the electric had run out and they were searching for debt letters in the dark with the agent forced to use the torch on her mobile phone to aid her.
We also sent a small amount to a single mum with two toddlers who recently because of a change of circumstances has been forced to apply for Universal Credit. This has forced her to have to wait five weeks without her benefits being paid and has meant taking advances (which are really loans you have to pay back from the DWP) and borrowing from friends and family, just to pay her bills and have food for her and her two children. Contrary to popular belief, she isn’t better off on UC, and is financially struggling to keep her head above water. We sent the small amount to help pay to top up her energy meters so it would be one less thing for her to worry about.
We had a case come in that we thought we might have to say no to as it was a higher than usual amount that was being asked of us. The situation was that a mother was staying with her daughter as the mother was homeless. The daughter’s landlords found out and said the mother had to go as the daughter was breaching her tenancy agreement by having her there. The woman was being put up in a very temporary situation, in a ‘sit-up situation’ in a homeless shelter. There was a chance she could be allowed to stay somewhere where she would have a bed for the next six months and be helped with finding suitable accommodation that would be permanent. Just as we were about to say no, a very generous donation came in just at that moment which allowed us to say yes. So thanks to that generous donation a lady is off the streets and will be safe and warm for the next six months, with support going forwards.