Don’t wait until crisis hits – that’s our message as we launch our new ‘Sort It Sooner’ campaign this month.
We provide free specialist housing, benefits, debt, energy and immigration advice, and we’ve launched this campaign in a bid to stop as many people across Northamptonshire as possible from spiralling into crisis. We’re concerned that too many people are struggling in silence and we’re urging them to get in touch as soon as a problem arises – whether it is housing related, about benefits and debt, related to an immigration matter or related to energy bills.
Our CEO Sarah Hayle explains: “We see this pattern across all our services – people waiting until they’re at breaking point before reaching out for help. By then, their debt levels have escalated, their health and wellbeing have been impacted, and what could have been resolved quickly has become a complex, time-consuming crisis.”
Our ‘Sort It Sooner’ campaign is all about encouraging people to reach out for help as soon as financial difficulties emerge. Sarah adds: “Many of our clients have never been in financial difficulty before. Some are embarrassed to ask for help but we want to help and all our services are free so we are urging people to get in touch.”
We supported 19,570 people in 2023-24, with nearly three quarters reporting that our assistance helped improve their health or prevent their health from deteriorating.
Our Key Areas for Support
- Benefits advice – helping people secure the welfare benefits they’re entitled to
- Fuel poverty advice – providing emergency credit and energy efficiency support
- Debt advice – reducing debt levels and negotiating payment plans
- Housing advice – helping people keep their homes and address arrears
- Immigration advice – ensuring secure status for work and community participation
We’re asking local organisations, community groups, and residents to support our #SortItSooner campaign by sharing information about the free services we provide.
“We want to reach people before they reach crisis point,” added Sarah. “We are here to help you keep your home, to get the benefits you are entitled to, to support you with your debt. Don’t leave it too late. You may have lost your job, received an unexpected bill, suffered a bereavement, be going through a break-up, or simply seen your bills spiral. This is the time to get in touch, not when bailiffs are at the door or eviction is imminent.”
We support people across Northamptonshire, and regularly see cases where early intervention could have prevented months of stress and escalating problems. In our housing work for example, 90% of the people we have helped in court had never sought advice from us before arriving at their court hearing.
With current waiting times varying from 10 days for housing advice to 5 weeks for benefits advice, the message is clear: the sooner you sort it, the better the outcome.
We run a host of outreach events across the county which means people may be able to see an adviser sooner and bypass waiting lists. Outreach events are listed here with updates and events also on our Facebook page.