Gateway M40

K is forty three years of age and has separated from his son`s mum. He works thirty two hours a week for the NHS and is trying to get more hours as, once he has paid his priority bills and child maintenance, there is no money left for food and fuel top-ups. During the week, K skips meals and does not put the heating on, so he is able to afford food and heating when his son comes at weekends. His son is making excuses not to visit as there is little food or heating, and this is breaking K's heart. Please could you help him over the coming weekends.

Our client has a young daughter and we are supporting mum with debt advice. C works, but is on a zero hour contract so she never knows how much her wage will be at the end of the month. She tries to do as many hours as possible, but they are not always available. Mum always makes sure her priority bills are paid, but there is little left for household items. Her friend has been doing some washing for her but C doesn`t like to be a burden. Please could you help her to replace her broken washing machine?

J is due to retire in early May, when his benefit that he receives every fortnight will stop and he will have to wait four weeks to get his pension. This is paid in arrears and he may only get a part payment as his pension start date is not at the beginning of a four week period. J is terrified of going into debt over this short space of time. He is not sleeping and it is causing him a lot of anxiety. We are asking for help to cover his Council Tax, water and rent monthly bills for one month as J does not have money to cover these

Our client is a single mum who is blind. She has a younger son with severe autism and an older son with learning disabilities. Mum has asked for our help with debt advice and feels very ashamed as it is frowned upon in her community to have debts. Mum is on disability benefits and has very little spare money to buy large household items such as a washing machine, as hers has stopped working and she is unable to get to the launderette. Please could you help mum, as she has nobody else to help her?

I met J at our local wellbeing centre and it took him a while to open up to me. He told me how he brought up his six children by himself and he loved every minute of it. J was unable to work for many years, as a single parent, and he never had any money to replace furniture in his home. He is due to retire in May and his bed and mattress, which is over twenty years old, is broken. J is currently on benefits and still has no spare money. Please could you help him replace his bed and mattress?