Jane's Story

When Jane (56) self-referred to the Moneywise Plus Service she struggled with her confidence and found talking to new people challenging.

During her initial assessment, the Community Engagement and Triage (CET) Worker introduced the project and what it can offer which included volunteering, financial and digital support. They explored with Jane what she felt she needed support with and completed and Entry and Eligibility form to evidence that Jane had the right to live and work in the UK.

During this same appointment, Jane started to feel able to open up about her current issues and disclosed that she had just come out of an abusive relationship and been a victim of financial and emotional abuse. Jane wanted to improve her self-esteem and confidence and feel better able to make decisions for herself, as her ex-partner had previously taken control of all her finances.

As Jane was now living independently following the split from her ex-husband, she wanted support with learning how to pay bills and manage her money. Jane wasn’t currently in work but wanted to make steps towards gaining employment and earning her own money.

The CET Worker discussed with Jane the financial skills support available within the project and how this would enable Jane to learn how to pay bills and manage her money more effectively.

Additionally, Jane did not feel confident in using a computer to help look for jobs and manage her finances, which was a barrier to progression for Jane, and a source of her confidence issues.

The CET Worker discussed a referral for digital 1-2-1 support to enable her to learn basic computer skills and be able to job search.

Jane also summarised that her confidence was the biggest issue and had most recently been suffering with panic attacks. The CET Worker and Jane talked about the volunteering route way and how this may help Jane to meet new people, learn new skills, increase motivation and enable her to reference the experience when writing CV’s.

After discussing the support available through the project, the Jane was extremely happy with the outcome of the appointment and felt more positive and optimistic about the future.

Since the initial sign up appointment with the client, Jane has now received support from all of the route-ways on the Moneywise Plus Project and feels she is able to move forward with her life independently.