Individual Grants

Catherine and Mike are parents of two children.  Mike is self-employed but lost his income overnight when lockdown started. He didn’t qualify for any of the government income support schemes. Already under pressure, with one parent suffering with severe mental health issues and a child with special needs, the family found themselves in crisis.

Mike had always been self-sufficient and was reluctant to accept any help initially.  However, Katie Vinnicombe, Senior Family Support Worker at the Elmbridge Family Centre, built up a good relationship with the family.  Katie used the grant given by Walton Charity to provide shopping vouchers and food parcels for the family and activities for the children. Mike said that it was lovely to feel ‘normal’ and go shopping with a gift card to choose what they wanted to buy, rather than having a bag of food thrust upon them.

As lockdown eased, Mike was able start to work again and rebuild the family finances.

“If we had not had access to your funds, I am not sure what would have happened to this already stressed family.”