Real Stories

How we have helped

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

We helped increase Rose's income by over £5,000 a year

Over £5,000 better offRose has been a beneficiary since 2001, she is now 87. She worked for a confectionery wholesaler for 28 years. She heard about Sweet Charity from a friend. She has never been well off as her husband died suddenly at the age of 45 leaving two teenage children.

Rose has enjoyed having visits from her Welfare Officer and was a regular at our outings. This year she began having more problems with her mobility and she had to spend out quite a bit on taxis to fetch her shopping and pay for other help in the home. Her Welfare Officer helped her to claim Attendance Allowance. This was successful and entitled her to additional state benefits, which has increased her £8,190 per year income by £5,668, to over £13,000. Rose said she was quite overwhelmed with the huge increase in her finances, and would have never known she could claim had it not been for the skills and knowledge of Sweet Charity's trained Welfare Officer.

We helped Raj and Sunita sleep soundly

Sleeping soundlyRaj has worked for nearly 10 years in CTN stores. After a year of being in the position as the manager of a CTN shop he took out a loan so that he could purchase the shop, which he felt was a sound investment. He successfully operated it with his wife Sunita for a further 4 years. However due to worsening back problems, neither were able to continue working and the business was sold, which left them with some personal debts.

Both have severe back problems. Raj is constantly in pain and is having an MRI scan to try and establish the cause of the problem. His doctor has recommended a more supportive mattress to help with the back pain but the couple are unable to afford this. We were able to purchase a new mattress which has helped give them a good night's sleep.

We helped John and his son have a fresh start

A fresh startJohn is 41 and has worked for a major confectionery manufacturer for over 15 years. He has recently divorced and has custody of his 8 year old son. He was living temporarily at his parents' home where he had to share a room with his son.

He applied to Sweet Charity for help towards the deposit on a rented flat for himself and his son. We were able to offer him a grant for this and our Welfare Officer will keep in touch with them and check that they are happily settled in their new home.