A serious knee injury left CAP client Rodney no longer able to work and, as a result, he fell into debt. Rodney was unaware that he could be entitled to any kind of benefits until he called CAP for help.
Rodney says, “I was physically in a lot of pain with my knee and I also had lung disease. We had no income, and didn’t know what to do. I ran out of heating oil so we had no heating, no hot water and ran completely out of food. I was 38 thousand pounds in debt because I couldn’t get any assistance from anywhere. I couldn’t afford to feed my kids. To be in that situation is horrific.
“Out of desperation, I went on the internet and found Christians Against Poverty. Along came Heather from CAP. By the grace of God we were saved.
“She immediately got us heating oil which then gave us heating and a food parcel turned up on the doorstep. You could not believe the relief of being able to feed my kids. There was someone who cared about us.
“I’ve not claimed benefits in the past so I didn’t know anything about it. Heather passed me on to the job centre and I found out I was entitled to Universal Credit. She then informed me I should go for PIP (Personal Independence Payment). I’d never heard of it and didn’t know anything about it. I was awarded PIP. I had no idea you could claim these sorts of things.
“I’m now out of debt. Once you know what is available you can do something about it. The key to it all, to getting out of debt is having that little bit of knowledge that someone can help you.”