How we helped Sophie – in her own words

“I’m originally from the USA but moved to England with my husband and our daughter about four years ago. At the time, I felt like “everything was coming up Sophie.” Chris was working, our daughter was doing really well, and after a difficult IVF journey, we were excited to be expecting our second child. Then our world changed overnight.”

“Our youngest daughter was born four months early...there was no warning and no indication that this could happen. Suddenly, instead of planning for a new baby, we were spending every day in hospital, wondering what the future would hold. She spent 111 days there, fighting for her life.”

That's when our financial problems began

“I couldn't work, and my husband lost his job because he needed to care for our family. We used up our savings, asked family and friends for help and even set up a GoFundMe page. People were incredibly generous, but it still wasn't enough. We got behind on our rent, our utility bills and almost everything else.”

“What made things harder was that it happened during a period when energy prices and other household costs were rising sharply. I often think we were caught in a perfect storm. We lost both sources of income just as everyday living costs were becoming more expensive.”

An unmanageable energy bill

“The debt that worried me most was our energy bill— by then, we owed nearly £3,000 to our energy supplier. When our daughter finally came home, she was still on oxygen and needed medication that had to be kept refrigerated. If the power went out, that could have been my daughter’s life.”

“At our worst, we were worried about keeping our roof over our heads. We didn't know if the lights would be cut off or if we'd be able to keep up with all the things our family needed. We were worried about putting food on the table and buying school uniforms for our older daughter. It was absolutely terrifying.”

“Asking for help was one of the hardest parts…. eventually, our energy supplier directed us to StepChange. But before that I’d reached out to other places and got advice like, “Don't put the kettle on” or “unplug your appliances when they're not in use”— well-meaning but so out of touch with anything we were actually experiencing in real life.”