Family finances boosted by volunteer support
Janaki Mahadevan
Monday, February 27, 2012
Volunteers can lift families above the poverty line by enabling them to accurately calculate the benefits they are entitled to, a pilot project has found.
Turn2us, Home-Start and the Child Poverty Action Group set up the Maximising Income project in 2009 with government funding, to address the problem of families living below the poverty line.
Home-Start staff and volunteers were trained to help families review their household budgets and access the welfare benefits and charitable grants available to them.
Using the "benefits calculator" and grants search on the Turn2us website, 21 per cent of families taking part in the evaluation of the pilot increased their incomes, receiving additional benefits of up to £210 a week and charitable grants worth up to £1,400.
The extra money received was used to buy food, cover transport costs to attend medical appointments and purchase necessities such as cookers, beds and pushchairs or items adapted for children with special needs.
According to the charities, there are more than 3,000 charitable funds, with a total expenditure of £366m that exist to give grants to individuals in need, yet only three per cent of people are aware of this support.
Kay Bews, chief executive of Home-Start UK, said: "Our family support volunteers were a crucial element in this project. Their existing and trusted relationship with families meant they already understood the circumstances parents are struggling to overcome.
"It also allowed them to introduce the extremely delicate subject of families’ finances. Families were reassured by this sensitivity and the confidentiality of their existing relationship with their Home-Start volunteer. We want to encourage other services to learn from this experience and think of the value that volunteers can bring to this kind of work."
Participants on the two-year programme said they were able to make more informed decisions about the financial implications of decisions such as returning to work.
Alison Taylor, director of Turn2us, said: "We urge other charities and advice-giving organisations to replicate the model piloted in this project, to train front-line workers and volunteers to be able to help families prepare for, and use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator and Grants Search to maximise their income."
