Good News Story Update: Leanne takes control

10th February, 2012

Steven Redpath, Five Lamps' Financial Inclusion Link Worker recently caught up with Leanne to see how she has been since we published a Good News Story about her in July 2011.

Leanne attended a Capacity Builders course held by Five Lamps in Northumberland in February 2011. Capacity Builders helps people make a budget, understand what financial terms mean and help them to cope better with their debt.

Steven Redpath worked intensively with Leanne after she attended the Capacity Builders course and helped to prevent Leanne from having to make a Court apperance due to Council Tax arrears. Steven also helped Leanne to reconnect her energy supply after it was disconnected for over for 4 months and supported Leanne to apply for an energy grant from nPower.

Since they last met, Leanne has moved from being unemployed to working full time work on a permanent contract. Leanne’s rent arrears are almost paid off and she has fully secured her tenancy, where she was previously at serious risk of eviction. The agreed repayment plan with the Council Tax which prevented her Court appearance has never been missed and she has now increased her repayments, due to being in employment.

The energy grant application was successful with nPower Energy Fund and an award of £599.38 has been credited, clearing all arrears. Leanne's TV Licence repayments were set up on a re-payment card and she is now up to date with her repayments.

Leanne continues to follow her debt management plan set up for arrears with her credit card and optician and no further action will be taken.

Leanne said "I feel I have a great relationship with Five Lamps. I feel comfortable to contact them with any problem. I have been helped greatly by Steven over the past year. When I first met him I was living off £7 a week and had no gas or electric and he sorted it promptly. I was also provided with vouchers so I could get some food, which was a great help"

Leanne has moved on from unemployment, no gas or electricity, fear of facing the courts, high risk of evection and a range of debt issues, to now being in complete control of her life and is able to move forward.

Steven Redpath said "I give full credit to Leanne for taking the advice and continuing to keep regular contact with me. Leanne likes to review her income and expenditure document from time to time and often text or phones to request advice on financial decisions. For example her next move is to request a water meter to save on her bills and she is taking out some home insurance cover with her housing provider"

Leanne commented "I had been pleading other companies to help and got nowhere; no one was interested or said there was nothing they could do to help. Since I first started getting help from Five Lamps, I have found the confidence to look for work and held down 3 part time jobs before securing a full time position elsewhere. I recommend Five Lamps to anyone who could benefit and I will always be grateful for their help"

February 2012

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Five Lamps have been helping people to manage their money through a ‘Capacity Builders’ course, which helps people to make a budget, understand what financial terms mean and also to cope better with their debt. Leanne, 23 from Northumberland attended one of these courses in Blyth during February 2011.

Paul Burton, Five Lamps’ Financial Inclusion Team Leader took the opportunity to speak with Leanne at the course and It transpired that she had been living without electricity and gas for almost four months and she had fallen into financial difficulty. Leanne is a highly motivated young lady who fell into difficulty following a series of difficult personal circumstances over the past few years and showed a strong willingness to get out of her current situation.

Leanne was terrified of the prospect of going to court for Council Tax arrears so Paul made several phone calls that delayed the court action until Five Lamps could offer further help. Five Lamps were able to support Leanne with some food shopping vouchers, as her income was very limited.

Steven Redpath, Five Lamps’ Financial Inclusion Link Worker provided further support to Leanne. His first hurdle was to prevent the Court appearance, which he was initially told would be unavoidable. Steven spent an afternoon making telephone calls and preparing an income and expenditure for the Court, outlining the situation and received a breakthrough when they accepted an offer of repayments of £8.00 per fortnight, with the agreement of not missing one payment or a Court appearance would take place. Leanne has never missed this arrangement.

Steven’s next task was to get the gas and electricity supply back on in Leanne’s property, with the difficulty being that large arrears had accrued on the pre-payment meters. Steven made an application for a charitable energy grant from Npower Energy Trust to clear the arrears, whilst outlining the circumstances. Steven was aware that this would take sometime, so he contacted the suppliers to negotiate a quicker fix and get Leanne reconnected as an emergency. After several discussions an affordable repayment was set up and very quickly and we had re-established her connection. After 4 long winter months, Leanne has had her gas and electric supply back on.

During this time, Steven also arranged a repayment plan with her other outstanding creditors, which was accepted. As Leanne has been keeping to her repayment plan, her energy grant was successfully awarded and she is now in credit with her suppliers.

As a result of Paul and Steven’s support, Leanne is now in employment and has two part-time jobs, her tenancy is secure after addressing her arrears and she is looking to the future.

Leanne said “The support I received from Five Lamps helped me get on my feet, so I could return to employment. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without the support they provided. It’s changed my life!”

Download this Good News Story (PDF)

July 2011

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