Angela (pseudonym) was referred by one of the Maximise! Primary Schools. Angela and her partner have an 8-year-old son. Although the couple both work, they had been living off savings which were now dwindling. 

What we did: The couple was seen by a Maximise! Advice Worker who completed a benefit check and discovered the family were not receiving any benefits.  The Advice Worker assisted them to claim Child Benefit and Universal Credit.  The financial impact of this assistance amounted to a Universal Credit entitlement of £9,510.96 per year and a Child Benefit entitlement of £1,076.40 per year (2020-21 rates).  After maximising their income, the Advice Worker then referred the family to our Maximise Employability Adviser.

Angela is originally from a country in Asia and has a University MBA and a first class degree in Business. As is often the case, Angela’s qualifications are not automatically recognised in the UK and people have to pay a fee to have their qualifications assessed. This regularly results in them not being recognised as equivalent and they are told to re-train for a further year at their own expense. Angela decided to apply for a job that could fit in with her childcare needs whilst continuing to develop her potential in this country.   The Maximise Employability Adviser assisted her to apply for a part time post at a bakers in the city centre which she was successful in obtaining.  Angela enjoyed her job and liked working with her team but it did not allow her to make the most of her qualifications.

When working at the bakers our Employability Adviser continued to support Angela to explore opportunities to gain qualifications which would be recognised in the UK.  Angela began with a Foundation Level course for International Software testing followed by the Intermediate and Advanced courses which she funded herself. Angela’s hard work paid off and she was successful in gaining a position as a Software Test Engineer in the north of Scotland.  Her starting salary will be £26,000 and the family will be relocating shortly.  Angela is delighted. Her persistence and willingness to invest in her future, combined with the support she was offered by Maximise! has paid off. 

Simon (pseudonym) was referred to Maximise by his son’s primary school.  He was a single parent and was extremely anxious at the time and worried about money.  He had been forced to give up work after a change in circumstances when his son came to live with him permanently and he was struggling to manage and pay bills. 

He also had some rent arrears which were preventing him from moving house and some Council Tax arrears which were adding to his financial concerns.  In addition to this, Simon’s little boy was experiencing some problems which were being followed up by the appropriate agencies.

What we did: The advice worker referred Simon to the other parts of the Maximise! service which included Employability and  Family Wellbeing Support.  For advice on Simon’s energy issues he was also referred to our embedded Energy Carer from Home Energy Scotland. The Family Wellbeing Worker worked closely with Simon and his little boy to support the family to manage health issues and day to day pressures.

The Advice Worker completed a benefit check for Simon and began looking at additional funds. He made grant applications for birthday and Christmas presents for the little boy and referrals to agencies who could help provide clothing.  Simon needed to apply for jobs online but did not have a laptop or much money to pay for Wifi so the Adviser sourced a grant to get a device and some help towards Wifi costs. 

Simon was keen to move house but was unable to bid for alternative properties because of rent arrears.  The Adviser assisted Simon to set up a repayment plan, which meant that after 3 months, he could start bidding on Edindex.  He is now able to bid for alternative housing and is also receiving support from the Adviser to explore other options for moving house.  Simon was also supported to set up a repayment plan towards his Council Tax arrears and was helped to prevent a bank arrestment from taking effect. 

Working with the Maximise! Employability Adviser, Simon was supported to build his confidence, develop his skills and prepare for finding work.  This included help to get a new phone, interview clothes, putting together a new CV and providing testimonials for job applications.  Simon was also supported to join an interview panel for a community group from which he received great feedback and was asked to join the panel again in the future.   Working together Simon and his worker then starting looking at suitable posts and he was offered an interview by the Council.  Simon is continuing to receive support from the Maximise! project as the service is not time limited and meaningful change for most families takes time and ongoing, flexible support.  Simon has fed back to us that this has been really helpful to him.  He told us that he ‘feels valued by Maximise!’ and that he can now finally see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.