Through the Lightning Reach portal Jessica received support from:

Jessica's Story

Yorkshire, England

“A lot of things can be daunting and people can be ashamed and overwhelmed looking for support but Lightning Reach makes it very effective at what it needs to do. It puts people at ease using it.”

Unsettled lifestyle leads to financial and wellbeing challenges 

After a challenging period marked by postnatal depression following the birth of her son, Jessica had been reliant on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from her employer of six-years. Unfortunately, after the 27-week SSP period, her employer terminated her contract, leaving her without income. Managing postnatal depression with counselling and medication, Jessica now relies on daily medication to maintain a feeling or normality. 

Relying solely on her partner's wage, they face financial struggles with high food, energy, and clothing bills. They move frequently due to her partner's military service, making it challenging to establish a new career path. Despite recently securing remote work as an energy broker, the financial strain persists. Having not worked since February of the previous year, Jessica sought assistance and grants to cover essential expenses like food, clothing, a broken tumble dryer, and a new cot bed for her son.

Discovering a new way to find and apply for support 

Despite attempting various websites and searches previously for information, Jessica hadn’t made much progress in finding suitable support. Whilst dealing with an overdraft from TSB and exploring ways to reduce payments after her maternity pay ceased, she came across a link to Lightning Reach. 

The household was facing challenges when two kitchen appliances had recently broken down, leaving her with no freezer or tumble dryer. Unfortunately, her partner's salary did not allow for any savings, so they were relieved to find there was another option out there:

“It is a really friendly interface. A lot of things can be daunting and people can be ashamed and overwhelmed looking for support but Lightning Reach makes it very effective at what it needs to do. It puts people at ease using it.”

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Discovering and applying for new support via the portal

Jessica found completing her profile straightforward and was matched with personalised support in under 15 minutes. She felt relief at discovering there was support available to her:

“It was interesting to see what came up. It was relieving as I thought there would not be much support out there. It was a positive feeling. It's a really clever idea; it's a really simple way to show it [support options] all. The system understood what I was saying and put out the right information for me. Lightning Reach is brilliant as it puts everything in one place”

One of Jessica’s matches was to Lightning Reach support partner, the Royal British Legion (RBL). Jessica was matched with this support as her partner is currently serving in the military. She went on to apply for help:

"It was really simple; I just had to upload supporting documents and answer a few more questions. I then received a call from RBL, they got in touch to ask what support I needed, and also pin pointed me to a lot of other services."

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The ability to create a warm and safe family home

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Jessica successfully received crucial assistance from RBL, which included a new tumble dryer, £250 in supermarket vouchers, £70 per month credited to her energy card for the next 5 months, a £60 gift voucher for her son's Christmas, and a voucher to aid in purchasing software programs for her computer, facilitating her return to work.

“Honestly, it has helped us get back to a more comfortable position. It helped immensely in getting out the rut we were in. Thank you for all the help it has given us.”

Jessica’s positive experience has led her to recommend the portal to friends and family who she feels could benefit from seeking some extra help: 

“It's a really good system. I do suggest it to people,  2 or 3 people so far. if it's there and it's going to help, then why not give it a try?”