Tackling the cost of living for marginalised communities

Support When It Matters provides targeted, culturally sensitive support for people of African/Caribbean heritage who are homeless, have been in prison or are misusing drugs or alcohol.

Social Need

People of global majority backgrounds are far more likely to be made homeless than White people. They’re twice as likely to live in poverty and, on average, they receive tougher prison sentences. Marginalised communities can also face multiple barriers to accessing support services.

Peter Merrifield, Founder and CEO of Support When It Matters (SWIM), shares, “People who are hurt by the way they get treated by services feel they need to protect themselves. They can’t divulge everything as they don’t know how that information is going to come back and put them in a worse position.”

Organisation

SWIM supports people from a global majority heritage who have been in prison, are struggling with drug or alcohol misuse, or have been made homeless. The CIC provides supported accommodation, financial advice and one-to-one emotional support. It also partners with mental health and addiction services to ensure that people receive the holistic package of support they need to move forward with their lives.

Cost of Living Grant and Loan

SWIM experienced a significant surge in demand at the height of the cost of living crisis. Peter explains, “Family members of clients were coming to us. We were seeing mums, dads, sisters, aunts, uncles who were on a low income, unemployed or at risk of unemployment.” While these people didn’t meet the criteria for SWIM’s core services, they often had nowhere else to turn.

We loaned SWIM £60,000 through our Cost of Living Programme. Matched grant funding was then provided by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment.

SWIM used most of the £120,000 to employ three additional employees, who helped clients to access benefits, negotiate debt-repayment plans, receive fuel and food bank vouchers, and reduce their council tax. Without this support, some of SWIM’s clients may have lost their homes or been forced to take out high-interest payday loans.

Thanks to the grant, SWIM was also able to provide food and hot drinks at its community hub, so people attending sessions were able to focus without being distracted by hunger.

Amy turned to SWIM when she was made homeless during the cost of living crisis. She’s now been living in the CIC’s supported housing accommodation for almost a year but is aiming to move into her own home by Christmas. She shares that SWIM have helped her to “reflect on things that have happened in the past and how I want to move forward and improve my standard of living.”

Impact

The support provided by SWIM alleviated the additional financial pressure placed on people during an extremely challenging period. Crucially, SWIM was able to help many of its clients to find a new job, access training, or take steps towards gaining employment, therefore improving their chances of achieving financial stability.

Perry, who is now in his second year at university, shares, “I was homeless. I was in an accident and couldn’t really work. If it wasn’t for SWIM, I would still be on the street. I still can’t really work because of my depression, but they’re trying to help me be more sociable and they make sure that I have everything I need for university.”

Future Plans

The increased demand during the height of the cost of living crisis has now eased slightly, so SWIM is able to focus on expanding support for its target clients. As well as continuing its work in London, the CIC is purchasing a new site in Preston. Peter says that Charity Bank’s support has been “instrumental” to the CIC’s success.

“Remember the days when you could go into a branch and build a relationship with a bank manager? That’s been my experience with Alan, my main contact at Charity Bank. He wanted to remove as many obstacles as possible. There’s always been a sense of, ‘We’re going to make this work.’”

Peter Merrifield, Founder and CEO of Support When It Matters (SWIM)