As the title says, we have been busy. Lots of cases sent to us, each one more desperate than the one before. People are genuinely struggling. Not just people in receipt of benefits, but workers too, that are on minimum wage and limited hours so their income is topped up by Universal Credit. It just takes two wages to appear in one Universal Credit payment period, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket as the expected Universal Credit payment does not arrive. We had one gentleman that experienced this first-hand this week, he repaid his debts and bills with his wages as soon as he was paid, relying on his Universal Credit payment to cover his food costs, but got a notification to say it would not be paid this month. We’ve had people evicted from caravan parks where the energy access is heavily controlled by the landlord and very expensive making living there impossible, he is now living in a tent, waiting to be housed, and of course the weather is changing now, so much wetter than it’s been all summer long. What do you do when your house windows are broken and you don’t have an emergency fund to put things right and keep the house safe, you pay for the repair and worry about where money for food is going to come from later. Luckily, with your help, we were able to help these cases this week. Sending just enough money to top up energy meters and get, with some clever shopping, enough food to last them hopefully until their next benefits payment. You never know what’s around the corner, and not everyone can afford to have money sat around as an emergency fund in case things go bad. For some, every, single, penny is accounted for and essential.