The Cost of Living Crisis - Resources and Information
21/09/2022
Cost of Living Crisis
You may have heard “the Cost-of-Living Crisis” being talked about in the news and in day to day life. The Cost-of-Living Crisis is due to the cost of things that people need going up such as food and fuel and the amount people earn not increasing enough to match it.
Mencap have designed a great printable easy read explanation of the Cost of Living Crisis, you can access it here.
The Sheffield Council Website has a page providing some help and advice on money issues including who to contact if you need advice, and the different support that is available.
Help and advice on money issues | Sheffield City Council
The Sheffield Money Support Guide is a guide to the various money support services available in Sheffield including Benefit Advice, Debt Advice, Food Support and more:
Home - Sheffield Money Support Guide
If you are unsure what support you might need or where to begin, the following tool can help point you in the right direction:
Sheffield - Worried about Money?
Resources, advice and support around the Cost of Living Crisis
Benefits and the Cost of Living Payments
For guidance on getting an extra payment to help with the cost of living if you’re entitled to certain benefits or tax credits take a look at the government website
The Citizens Advice website also has lots of helpful information on what help you may be entitled to: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/get-help-with-the-cost-of-living/
For more information on Cost of Living Payments take a look at the mencap website:
https://www.mencap.org.uk/food-home-energy-and-fuel-benefits
Domestic Abuse
The cost of living crisis can have a devastating impact on those in abusive relationships including preventing them from leaving the relationship. Those experiencing Domestic Abuse can experience a type of abuse called Economic Abuse where the perpetrator controls the victims finances and may in some cases restrict access to other essential resources such as food, clothing and transport which in turn can deny a person employment, education etc. Victims may be financially dependent on their abuser due to having limited or no access to money due to limits imposed by the abuser, abusers may use the crisis to justify controlling their access to money.
For more information take a look at the WomensAid website:
The cost of living - Women’s Aid (womensaid.org.uk)
To access support for Domestic Abuse in Sheffield:
Call the SHEFFIELD helpline on 0808 808 2241 FREE (Monday – Friday 8:00am – 8:00pm, Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays 11:00am – 8:00pm)
Outside of these hours call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In an emergency call 999.
For more information on Domestic Abuse take a look at the DACT (Domestic Abuse/Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team) Website
https://sheffielddact.org.uk/domestic-abuse/
IDAS also offer free, confidential, support and advice for anyone who is subject to domestic abuse:
https://idas.org.uk/what-we-do/domestic-abuse-support/
For more information on economic abuse including coerced debt, Surviving Economic Abuse has resources to help aid understanding around what is coerced debt? Tackling coerced debt, and other information.
What is economic abuse? - Surviving Economic Abuse
Debt - Surviving Economic Abuse
Foodbanks
The cost of living crisis is leading to more people needing to access foodbanks. For more information about how to access emergency food supplies in Sheffield take a look at this resource from the Sheffield Food Bank Network. In some cases you may need a referral from someone who is already supporting you (such as a GP, Social Worker, or tenancy support worker) to make arrangements on your behalf to access a food bank, some you can contact directly.
http://www.sheffieldfoodbank.org.uk/food-bank-list/
Mental Health Resources
Struggling with finances can cause stress and anxiety, if you are finding it difficult to cope and your mental health is suffering, there is support out there.
For what to do if you need urgent help take a look at the Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust Website
SHSC - Urgent Help
Available 24/7, the Sheffield Rethink Helpline can offer advice to anyone struggling with their mental health.
You can call them on 0808 801 0440. Calls are free from a landline or mobile.
Sheffield Helpline (rethink.org)
For short term therapies available to anyone experiencing stress, anxiety and depression take a look at the Sheffield Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) website. You can self-refer online or by phone.
IAPT - Sheffield
Sheffield Flourish has an online mental health guide of mental health support services in Sheffield. You can access it through their website. Just type a keyword e.g. “stress” into the search bar to see a list of support services.
https://www.sheffieldmentalhealth.co.uk/