We are receiving many more applications for help via Citizens Advice now their helpline phone number is on our ‘get help‘ page on the website. The advisors are very quick with referrals to us for food even when working from home.
Read below the impact this is having across the 1200 Trussell Trust foodbanks:
“Since launching in April 2020, the helpline that we run in partnership with Citizens Advice (England and Wales) has answered over 43,000 calls and issued over 26,000 vouchers. We are so grateful for the critical role that you play in this partnership – the food parcels received by those calling the helpline have been a lifeline – thank you. And we have some exciting news to share with you about the impact of the partnership for people in crisis, along with announcing its new name – Help through Hardship.
We thought it might be useful to recap the service that is offered by Help through Hardship. Calls are answered by a Citizens Advice Adviser who will spend time to fully explore the callers’ circumstances. They will focus on completing a benefit check and provide income maximisation advice. This has led to the advisers helping to identify financial gains of over £5.8m for people in crisis to date, at an average annual amount of over £2,900 for those with an identified gain. The adviser will also explore what other advice is needed and will signpost the caller for further support, considering the local and national options. All of this allows the adviser to make a robust assessment of the caller’s need for emergency food and, where they deem it appropriate, will issue a food voucher using our e-referral system.”