CDER Group strengthens social value reporting and customer support with Lightning Reach

CDER Group works with local authorities across the UK to recover council tax arrears, business rates, road traffic fines and other debts fairly and sustainably. Alongside debt recovery, CDER’s Welfare Team plays a vital role in supporting vulnerable customers and helping them access wider financial support.

Before partnering with Lightning Reach, the team already referred customers to organisations such as Citizens Advice, StepChange and local support services. But the process was manual, time consuming and difficult to measure.

Support options were often found through Google searches or local knowledge, meaning customers only accessed a limited number of organisations, while the Welfare Team had little visibility over outcomes. At the same time, CDER had Social Value funding available to distribute to customers, but engagement with existing schemes was extremely low.

The organisation wanted a more scalable and measurable way to support customers beyond debt repayment alone.

From manual signposting to measurable support

Using Lightning Reach, CDER transformed how customers access support.

Instead of staff manually researching organisations and making individual referrals, the Welfare Team now simply sends customers a Lightning Reach link via SMS, email or letter. Customers can then self-serve through the platform, entering their information once to find personalised support tailored to their circumstances.

This includes grants, utility support, food support, furniture, clothing and wider financial help.

Emma Bass, Welfare Team Manager at CDER Group, explained: “Before, you were probably just searching for somewhere in their area or looking at Citizens Advice or local organisations. Whereas this, it’s all in one place really.”

For the Welfare Team, the process is far more efficient. “Now we just send the link. It’s dead easy and really user friendly.”

The simplicity of the platform has also improved customer engagement. Rather than being sceptical, many customers are relieved to discover support exists.

Emma says: “A lot of them are pleased and intrigued to receive it and say, ‘I didn’t know this kind of thing existed.’”

This has allowed CDER to offer an entirely new layer of support to customers that previously would not have been possible at scale.

Delivering measurable impact outcomes

One of the biggest benefits for CDER has been Lightning Reach’s reporting and dashboards.

Previously, the organisation had very limited visibility over whether customers actually accessed support after being signposted elsewhere. Now, the team can clearly track engagement, applications and outcomes - helping demonstrate measurable social value impact to clients and stakeholders.

Emma explained: “The reporting is massive to us because when we do new tenders for clients and new bids, we can use that information to show our clients what we can achieve, how many customers we've engaged with and how many have engaged with support.”

The data has become particularly valuable when bidding for new contracts and demonstrating how CDER supports vulnerable customers beyond debt collection alone.

Since launching the partnership, CDER has achieved:

• 1,500 individuals registered to find support

• £44,200 estimated awarded to customers

• £5,700 directly awarded through the portal

• £84,000 in benefits identified

• An average of just 11 minutes for customers to find support

The partnership has also supported CDER’s wider social value ambitions and innovation work, contributing to the organisation becoming finalists in the IRRV Social Inclusion Award.

Supporting vulnerable customers in moments of crisis

One customer supported through the partnership was Stephen, who had been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer while facing rising household bills and mounting debt.

After receiving a text message from CDER linking him to Lightning Reach, Stephen accessed a £350 energy bill grant from YES Energy Solutions, which was matched by Octopus Energy to clear £700 of debt, alongside additional energy advice and practical support.

Reflecting on the impact, Stephen said: “It’s a big weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I can focus on getting better, rather than worrying about the bills.”

Within a month, the vast majority of his energy debt had been cleared.

Expanding support through Lightning Reach

CDER is now expanding its use of Lightning Reach to distribute hardship vouchers for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils.

Previously, the process relied on letters asking vulnerable customers to respond with bank details - a method that generated fewer than 2% responses because many customers assumed the letters were spam or did not trust them.

Using Lightning Reach instead will allow CDER to securely distribute support through a platform customers can trust, while also improving reporting and engagement tracking.

Emma described the change simply: “It just seems like a better way of doing it.”

When asked whether she would recommend Lightning Reach to similar organisations, Emma’s answer was immediate: “I would definitely recommend using Lightning Reach. It's a one-stop shop for support. It's really user friendly, and really easy to use.”

Join us

Interested in how your organisation can collaborate with Lightning Reach? Get in touch at partnerships@lightningreach.org