Melin Advice: Making a difference to residents’ lives
Our Melin Advice service is one of the most important things we provide our residents – an impartial, friendly and confidential team of experts who can help residents with the challenges they may face in their daily lives. Melin Advice can assist with budgeting, benefits, energy bills, work, training, getting online and so much more. We’re also here to help you pick up the pieces when things go wrong, maybe due to ill health, or redundancy at work.
Written by Will
—13 Feb, 2023
We want to share the story of a Melin resident who recently worked with our Melin Advice team to get help. We were able to get an amazing result for the resident and help transform their life for the better. They would like to remain anonymous, so we’ll be calling her Sarah.
We originally started working with Sarah in May 2021 when a member of staff identified that she should be eligible for a range of benefits including Universal Credit, housing benefit, and a grant from the Discretionary Assistance Fund for furnishings and white goods. We secured these for her and as we also believed that she would be eligible for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), we started an application on her behalf.
Sarah should also have been eligible for Council Tax relief, but as records with the council were not up to date, the council had been charging her council tax at the full rate. Debt collection agents had also been assigned to her case, but thanks to the intervention of Melin Advice, we were able to get her council tax relief backdated and the court charges against her removed.
Sarah’s PIP application was a bit more complicated. Sarah had to take part in in-person assessments as part of her application for PIP and with complex mental health issues this was particularly challenging for her. Melin Advice team members supported Sarah directly with completing her assessments and eventually with our help she was able to do so. Following assessments, Sarah was found to be eligible for the enhanced rate of PIP and was awarded £13,000 in backdated payments.
Along with her eligibility for other benefits, this money and ongoing income will be transformative for Sarah. It will help her find stability and provide her with a platform to improve her mental and physical wellbeing.
This would only be possible thanks to the work of our Melin Advice team. In this case, it was also a member of Melin staff who first referred Sarah to Melin Advice and so it was a big team effort to get a fantastic outcome for this individual.
Whether you’re referred to Melin Advice by someone, or you contact us directly, the team is here ready to help. Not everyone will be able to access the same range of help that Sarah has, but our knowledgeable and friendly team will help you to access your entitlement and will provide a helping hand for you to tackle the challenges you face.
If you’re struggling, reach out today. The sooner you get in touch, the sooner we can help.
