Our client, a single mother of two children has had her Universal Credit claim sanctioned for three months, because she did not attend a meeting at the Job Centre, which she says she was never notified of. She is in the process of appealing this decision, but like most things with the DWP, it takes ages to make any progress. In the meantime she has two sons, one 13, the other 16 that are depending on her for their needs. She has had some help from elsewhere from her local authority and her energy supplier for food, and gas and electric, but has now exhausted all that help. So we were contacted as a last resort for help. She won’t receive any money from the DWP until the end of March when her sanction expires, so we agreed to send her £150 to tide her over until then.