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How debt counselling helped a single parent free herself from the debt trap
“It is like the cobwebs have been removed and I can see a brighter future”
Mrs Mary Smith is a lone parent in West London with 3 children - a stepson aged 17, another son aged 13 and a daughter aged 8.
Quite a handful even when you have no problems!
She used to work as a Nursery Nurse, but over a year ago ran into problems when she couldn’t keep up with her bills and rent to her housing association. Pretty soon bailiffs were knocking on her door to recover the debts.
As if this was not enough she also had medical problems with her legs which affected her mobility and ability to work.
You can imagine the terrible pressure.
Mary was very depressed. Often she would be walking down the street crying. She couldn’t sleep. Her appearance changed. And her relationship with her children was affected - they often had to walk around on eggshells.
Help at hand
Mary was referred to Stuart Freeman who specialized in debt counselling. Mary now tells her own story:
“I was introduced to a lovely gentleman called Stuart Freeman. He is a very calm individual and has the ability to make others feel very calm too.
Due to my mobility problems, Mr Freeman came to visit me at home. I managed to get all my bills together and gave them to him. At first I thought Stuart’s organisation were not doing anything as I was not hearing from them.
But I was wrong as a lot of work was going on in the background.
Mr Freeman was very helpful and would contact me with the actions taken and the things they need me to do next. I suddenly realised that I was getting less calls from bailiffs and agreement plans were put in place.
I am now more in control and gradually getting out of debts and I am a living testimony that even though you get in a rut you can get out of a rut. It has taken 12 months to sort it out – it is not an overnight process but in the long run it has worked to my advantage.
I am now much happier. I walk down the street smiling and although I am still in debt I am not as stressed as I was six months ago. I have much more peace of mind and the children are happier because I am happier.
It is like the cobwebs have been removed and I can see a brighter future.
I qualified as a Childminder four months ago and 3 months ago I started my own business as a childminder. I would not have been able to study if I was not given debt counselling."
If you found this article of interest why not attend our one day workshop, How you can help tenants deal with debt? It runs on 12th November in London, and 26th November in Manchester.
