On The Breadline: ‘It’s our job to catch people who fall through the gaps into despair’
Maryam Zakir-Hussain on the work of the Bridge Community Project
Helping out at Christmas: Sara Cox with Guiding Hands boss Tracey Davis
/ ES Compositeor Flora, a single mother of two sons, the cost-of-living crisis has led her to the edge of despair. The foster carer had fallen down a spiral of credit card debt after she split up with her husband. When Christmas came around, she did not want to let any of her relatives down and so continued to buy presents for her large extended family.
She said: “I couldn’t bear to tell people I couldn’t afford to buy them gifts so everything went on cards. Then my washing machine broke down and I put that on the card too. Soon food and petrol was bought on credit. My heating bills were £110 a month and now they’re £250 a month. I was trying to hold the fort but it was crumbling down on me.”
Things got so bad that Flora, from Scotland, entered a dark place. “I wanted to take my life,” she said. “I was sitting in my bath, ready to die. All I wanted was for the debt to disappear.”
It was a phone call to Bridge Community Project that saved her. The team flagged the grants she was eligible for and helped her to comb through her finances to see where she could save costs. But most of all, they listened and reassured her that she would make it. They also gave her immediate practical support — the group works with the West Lothian food network and supplies their clients with food recipe bags and energy top-ups when they can.
The Scottish charity is one of the organisations that will be eligible for funding as part of our On the Breadline Christmas Appeal in partnership with Comic Relief.
Manager Lesley Balaj said: “We catch the people who tend to fall through the gaps. We work steadily and slowly with the person in a way that mainstream spaces don’t have time to do.
We are seeing lots of people who are not just on benefits, but homeowners who are working and have a decent wage but cannot meet their bills. We aspire to provide long-term solutions but the cost-of-living crisis means we are helping with immediate solutions — plasters over gaping holes.”
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Donate to Comic ReliefThe charity also supports Mary, a 29-year-old single mother who was drowning in debt before she made contact with Bridge Community Project. Mary said: “I was hiding from my debt. I couldn’t deal with it. I have a one-year-old and I was scared someone was going to come to the door and take everything.” The Bridge helped her find ways to cut costs and pay her debts. “They were amazing,” Mary said. “They sent me a recipe bag with ingredients and video-called to help me cook dinner. A few weeks ago, I was struggling to keep up with my gas payment and I was in tears. The Bridge gave me a £30 voucher to see me through. They are helping me through these hard times.”
* Some names have been changed.