We were contacted about a man in his forties who had suffered two strokes earlier this year, leaving him with speech and memory problems. As he had only been working on a casual basis he wasn’t entitled to any sick pay. He’d applied for ESA but his forms had been lost and his claim closed in error, meaning he had received no benefits payments since July this year. Also he was on the point of eviction as his housing benefit hadn’t been paid. Our agents have managed to get his housing benefit put in place and also have made inroads into getting his ESA payments paid again, but this is unlikely to be paid until the New Year, leaving this man with no money for food over the Christmas period or for utilities. We sent him £100, and hopefully some of his faith in humanity has been restored.