Turn 2 Us

+ = £ Checking what financial support is available in difficult times

PHA UK has set up a new partnership with Turn2us, a national charity that helps people in financial hardship in the UK.

Turn2us provides a number of free services which help people to gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help, and these will soon be available via PHA UK’s website.

Here Turn2us tells us more about how these services can help anyone with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and those who care for them, who may be struggling financially or are unsure of what support could be available.

Check your welfare entitlements

People can experience financial hardship at any time for many different reasons, and it is often an unexpected event that can have the greatest impact. We know that having a serious illness like PH, or caring for someone with PH, can cause financial difficulties and place a huge strain on household income.

Welfare support exists to help those affected by these issues, but awareness tends to be low and the perceived complexities of the system often deter people from accessing this vital help.

Turn2us has a free and easy-to-use online Benefits Calculator to check what welfare benefits, tax credits and other support you could be entitled to. It also tells you the amounts you should receive and how to make a claim.

The benefits you may be eligible for depend on your household income and situation. Even if you have checked your entitlements to benefits before, it is worth checking again, especially if you have recently experienced a change in your circumstances.

Penny is just one of many people that we have helped to access welfare support. When Penny’s husband started experiencing mental health problems, he had to take leave from work. Then making things even harder, Penny’s own long term health condition became worse and she too was forced to stop work.

Initially the couple’s situation was manageable as Penny was receiving full sick pay in the first instance. However, over time this amount was reduced by half. With this being the only income coming into the household, the family started to struggle. Barely able to cover their absolute essentials including food, Penny didn’t know what to do, and the stress started to mount.

After finding out about Turn2us from a friend, Penny used the Benefits Calculator and was pleasantly surprised to find out she was eligible for Working Tax Credit and Employment and Support Allowance. In total Penny receives £600 per month through these benefits – income she says took a lot of stress off the family at a very difficult time.

See if you’re eligible for a charitable grant

There is generally low awareness of charitable grants, and research by Turn2us found that nine out of ten people on low incomes had no idea that this help exists.

Turn2us has a free Grants Search featuring over 3,000 charitable funds that give grants to individuals with a number of different needs and circumstances. The Grants Search also includes details of each fund’s eligibility criteria and how to apply.

The funds award grants and other forms of support to those who meet their eligibility criteria. In most cases they have been set up to assist people in financial hardship that have something in common, for example those who have worked in a certain industry, have a specific illness or live in a particular area. Many funds also help the partners or children of the people their grants support.

One of the people who received help through grants is Matthew, a father of three and carer to his wife who has mental and physical disabilities. After he was unexpectedly made redundant, it took Matthew a while to find a new job. He managed to find part-time work, but on a very low income, the family started to get in to arrears with their mortgage, electricity and heating bills.

As their debts mounted, Matthew and his family knew they needed to get some help. After hearing about Turn2us, they tried the Grants Search and were successful in applying for an annual grant of £800 from a charity linked to Matthew’s wife’s former profession.

Matthew says: “I feel more positive

Turn2us has a free and easy-to-use online Benefits Calculator to check what welfare benefits, tax credits and other support you could be entitled to.

as this money has made a big difference in paying off our debts. It’s also allowed us to make little changes that make a huge difference such as brightening up our kitchen with a lick of paint which has cheered my wife up a great deal.”

Other help available

Through its website, Turn2us also provides a range of information and resources on welfare benefits, charitable grants and other support services. This includes the latest information on planned changes to benefits and tax credits.

For those without internet access, Turn2us provides a free, confidential helpline on 0808 802 2000, open Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm. The charity’s experienced advisers can carry out a benefits check and grants search to see what help you may be able to apply for.

Turn2us also works with a range of national and local organisations to reach more people in financial hardship. The charity trains and supports frontline workers including advisers, caseworkers and volunteers so that their service users can access the Turn2us website and find the help they’re looking for.

In the last year alone, nearly four million people used Turn2us’ services to find financial support. With survey data suggesting that estimated income identified through benefits and grants during this time totals over £101 million, the charity is showing more and more people that support is available through difficult times. The free Turn2us Benefits Calculator and Grants Search will be available to use on the PHA UK website soon. For more information, please visit www. turn2us.org.uk .