Page 21 - report 2021

Louise is a single mum of 5 beautiful children. Her youngest is two and her eldest is 13 years old. A year
ago, she was living in a private rented upstairs flat. The flat wasn’t big enough for them all but they made
it work by sharing spaces. The landlord was not very supportive and at times the heating would not work,
and the garden space was not used by the children as there was no grass or play area.

Louise was given notice on her flat and she had to find somewhere else to stay. She was really worried
that she may need to go homeless and with a big family, homes were hard to find. She was on the “list”
for Housing but it was not guaranteed that she would be offered a home before her lease ended.

She also had debt that meant that she would not be offered a home until some of her debt had been
paid off. WM2U liaised with housing to support her to get on the housing list despite her existing debt.
WM2U contacted the housing team to explore what the options were, and they suggested expanding the
areas that she was open to and perhaps talking to the landlord to extend the lease.

Louise was supported by WM2U to access the carer’s centre who checked her housing form along with
her to make sure all the details were correct. They offered on-going support to Louise who was very
worried that she and her children would have nowhere to go. She was struggling with her mental health,
surrounded by boxes as she was unsure when she was moving.
WM2U liaised with the carer’s centre, housing and her landlord and organised an extension on her lease
which they agreed to. This eased the pressure on Louise.

She was also worried that her youngest son would have to go to a different nursery from her other 4
children. WM2U contacted the nursery and explored whether they could have a place at the same school
and they agreed to this, meaning she did not have to walk miles to take her kids to school.

Louise was offered a home, weeks before her original date for moving.
WM2U supported her to furnish her home as she did not have the things she needed for her new house.
We applied to the BBC Children in Need Essentials fund, and this supported her to buy furniture and
bedding for her home.
Louise is now happy and settled in her new home with a garden in an area that she feels comfortable in.

“The help that everyone gave me was a huge relief as I was very uptight and struggling with asthma and
anxiety. If it wasn’t for all the support I have around me I would still be struggling to get things sorted for
my kids and I would be a worrying mess. I still have the same support from What Matters to You and our
wee group is amazing.” Louise.

Louise’s Story