We had an emergency request which we have been dealing with over the weekend (being volunteers working from home this does mean we work over the weekends on occasions). The request was made on behalf of a single mum of four children, ranging in ages from 5 to 15. All of the children have behavioural issues and she herself suffers with chronic depression. She has been in a string of abusive relationships, the first one began when she was only 14 years of age. Two years ago, with the help of a keyworker from a local children’s centre, she left her last abusive relationship and took the children with her. She now finally has a place to live, but still has debts relating to her accommodation which she is struggling to deal with. Over the weekend she was without money because although she works 16 hours a week as a cleaner, last week it was half-term so she was unable to work as she had no childcare. Her support worker is assisting her with this going forward so she doesn’t face this problem again. Her immediate problem that we were asked to help with was her inability to heat the home or buy food for herself and the children. We agreed to send her £80 to clear the energy debt, £20 to add to the meters so she could use her gas and electricity, and £50 to buy some food. Her local council have agreed to help her by paying some of the outstanding rent amounts directly to her landlord. Our agent contacted us later that day to let us know how much of a help this was and she was confident that this had been a huge boost for her.