Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Crisis loans

May 18 2009
A reader wants the chance to build up her life rather than watching her freedom of choice, money and health vanish Dear Editor, Being homeless at the moment, and wanting a T-shirt, I am writing in. I came to England about a month ago, to sort out my financial problems and quickly found myself homeless. I was so hungry that I accepted a crisis loan which has to be repaid by my pension, which is so small it would not feed one person for one week in central London. I was interested to read in one of the many social security handouts that under no circumstances should homeless people be encouraged to, or allowed to, run into debt. My question to the loan organisers is: why didn't you just give me some money to buy food with, then? I now have insufficient funds to feed myself between the hours of 6.45am and 11pm, keep myself warm and well, as the DHS have already dipped into my hard-earned pension and my private bank account. I now sell the Big Issue in the freezing cold to keep me in the odd coffee and doughnut. I realise that there are vans generously handing out tea and sympathy, but dragging one's luggage about late at night is exhausting. Still, perhaps we ask too much: a clean bed, shower, privacy and our own money to buy food for ourselves. What about a job to put something aside and buy some warm clothes rather than someone's castoffs? The odd bit of dentistry and a doctor who isn't interested in drugs or mental health? The chance to build up one's life, not to sit and watch organisations take away our freedom of choice and our money, oh - and our health. Rosemary Homeless of Westminster, by e-mail The Editor replies: Rosemary, Yours is a common complaint, but the simple answer we got was that a crisis loan is not a debt, but an advance on benefits due. I know of some readers who will not accept hostel life as they see claiming benefits as trapping them into a lifestyle from which is difficult to break out. If you have any specific difficulty with benefits/ pension shop around for good advice - either from the benefits agency or an independent advisor (see service listings for where to find them).
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