How we make a difference

Jamie and his wife, Sonia, are parents to three boys and are both full-time carers for their youngest son, Jack, who suffers from a rare genetic lung condition. This requires them, alongside a team of carers, to work in shifts to provide 24/7 assistance; both Jamie and Sonia split their time between the hospital and home.

Having spent his entire life in hospital, Jamie and Sonia did everything they could to enable Jack to come home when he was 18 months’ old. He still requires a lot of medical equipment to keep him breathing and is likely to require medical support for the rest of his life.

Jamie took voluntary redundancy from his workplace so he could share the care of the three boys. With minimal income benefits from the state to support the family, the redundancy money didn’t last long which meant financial pressures started to build up.

NABS has kept in contact with Jamie and his family throughout their journey, to support them emotionally and offer financial assistance toward their travel costs while they attended hospital each day. We also sent them birthday and Christmas vouchers to get them some relief from the daily financial pressure of supporting their young family.

“My wife and I crammed about 2 years’ worth of intensive care training into 6 months in order to get our son home, but this was only possible due to the generosity of NABS and others supporting us throughout our 18 months in hospitals; for that alone, we will never forget your help. The hard work continues and we’re still unsure as to how we will make it all work financially but for now, life is good. Thank you.”

Hannah is a single mum who was forced to flee a domestically abusive relationship while still on maternity leave with her six month old baby. Hannah was determined to not let the experience have a lasting effect on her daughter, their future and her return to work following maternity leave.

The council supported her in finding suitable accommodation, however, Hannah and her daughter would be moving into an unfurnished property and she was worried about the costs to set up in a new home while only receiving Statutory Maternity Pay

NABS offered Hannah short-term support to ease the transition into a new, safe living environment and allow her to focus on supporting her daughter. We were also able to provide Hannah with career coaching to help facilitate her return to work as a working parent.

Richard is the main carer for his son who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He has suffered with his own mental health problems too; he was diagnosed with depression several years ago which had limited his ability to find work. When he contacted NABS, his own mental health was in a better position and his son was soon to be going to university, with a support worker to help him, so Richard was in a position to return to full-time freelance work.

With a fantastic offer to work on an upcoming project and intentions to develop other opportunities, Richard was concerned about his lack of computer equipment and how this would affect his freelance career.

NABS was able to offer Richard a support grant to ensure that he had the software needed to return to work. He also took advantage of our career coaching to support his transition back to regular freelancing.

Julie is a domestic abuse survivor who was given two weeks’ notice to vacate her family home. Due to the abuse Julie suffered, she became increasingly isolated, spending most of her time in her bedroom due to her increasingly difficult living arrangements.

On the verge of becoming homeless, Julie was desperate to escape the family home but was struggling to meet the month’s rent which was required up front, on top of the deposit for a new home.

NABS was able to offer Julie financial assistance to cover her first month’s rent shortfall, alongside a support grant towards essential general living costs, to help alleviate some of the pressures she was experiencing, enabling her to focus on her personal wellbeing during this difficult time.

“I just wanted to thank you all again for helping me out with my move. I have moved all of my things into my new place and I am already feeling much better about life and my future.”

James suffers from depression and was struggling to manage debts. Following two stressful, unsuccessful occasions to remedy his debt, James’ mental wellbeing started to deteriorate and he was left with minimal amount of money to live on.

To add to his fragile position, he was still grieving from the recent death of his mother and has also had to cope with discrimination due to health issues.

The pressure of debt alongside James’ health problems was affecting his work performance, adding to the stress he was experiencing.

NABS was able to offer James financial grants to clear priority debts and relieve the pressure of commuting costs. NABS also provided food vouchers to allow James to focus on improving his mental wellbeing during this stressful period. Having helped with his most pressing financial concerns, we also signposted him to other support organisations to help him manage his debts.

Stephen suffers from mental health problems and is a full-time carer for his disabled daughter. Due to on-going health issues; his ability to work has been prevented which led him to rely on state benefits and a small pension.

Stephen had to spend a large amount of money modifying their home to ensure it was a suitable living environment for both him and his daughter, but this left him unable to cover utility bills.

NABS helped Stephen to clear his bill arrears to get him back on his feet, whilst he recovered from a recent emergency operation. We also provided him with food and birthday vouchers to relieve some pressure when he got home from hospital so that he could focus on his recovery and to continue caring for his daughter.

“I really am most grateful and most appreciative for all the support I’ve received from NABS. It is one less thing to worry about at this very difficult time.”

Tim is a domestic abuse survivor who was on the verge of becoming homeless. He found the strength to flee the abuse and turned to a friend for short-term help. Having sought advice from various organisations, Tim came to the conclusion that he needed to relocate in order to be able to afford a stable home.

He found a great property but was unable to meet the upfront costs that were associated. Although he was eager to return to the industry and get back to work, this seemed unachievable until he was able to secure the basics – a home.

To help Tim secure a new home and ease his situation, NABS was able to offer financial support to cover the initial costs of the property and relocating. Once this pressure was relieved, we offered Tim one-to-one coaching and CBT to support his return to the industry and guide him to the next step in his career.

‘Thank you so much for taking the time to consider my application. I am more than grateful for all the support and guidance that I have received from NABS.  Thank you and I pray your wishes come true.”