Real Stories

How we have helped

Here are some of the ways we have helped people in the last year:

We were there for this retailer during one of the toughest times of her life....

A self-employed confectionery retailer with 22 year’s service was referred to us as she had recently been widowed, Her husband, who also worked with her, had died of cancer and she was not only grieving the loss of her husband but trying to come to terms with life as a very young widow with a son.

 She needed temporary help to get back on her feet until she felt able to return to work. Whilst her insurance was expected to pay off half of the mortgage, she still had other household bills to pay and had no regular income. Sweet Charity contributed towards her mortgage payments and awarded her a temporary weekly grant until she was ready to face work again.

We supported this lone parent so she could take care of her son and herself.... 

We were contacted by a young lone parent with 11 year’s service who had to give up her job to care for her sick child who had been hospitalised on several occasions with severe asthma. She had no extended family to offer her support.

 Although her employer kept her job open, she was unable to return to work and had been claiming sickness benefits due to the stress she was under. As a consequence, she was not only short of money, but desperate to get back to work to minimise the social isolation she was experiencing.

 Her house needed repairs and she was in need of a new cooker, but did not have the money to cover any of the costs. We awarded a one-off grant towards this and a weekly grant for 12 months until she was able to return to work. By doing this we were able to meet her immediate short-term needs and provide her with some guaranteed additional support that would help both her financial and emotional well-being.

We helped this family come to terms with a life changing incident....

A wholesaler contacted us about a 30 year old employee with 8 years’ service whose house had burnt down the previous weekend. He has a partner and 2 young children with a low disposable income.  He lost all his possessions, apart from a few items of clothing for his eldest child. He had no contents insurance and no savings and so has no way of replacing his possessions.

Our Welfare Officer made contact within a day of hearing of this disaster and was able to make an immediate cash payment to purchase clothing. He has now been rehoused and a further visit has enabled us to make a maximum grant and an additonal discretionary sum to purchase essential items.

 Not only has Sweet Charity been able to meet his immediate short-term needs, but has helped him avoid taking on additional debt in the form of high-interest loans to replace his possessions. Sweet Charity will continue to keep in touch with ongoing advice, friendship and support.