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From potholes to PIP forms

“When you are first diagnosed with cancer, obviously money isn’t your biggest worry, that doesn’t come into your head. You’re too busy thinking, why me? Am I going to die? What am I going to tell my family?

“After the diagnosis sinks in, you’re then faced with another minefield, and that is the financial one. A person like me, who has been employed all their adult life: I was in the Armed Forces for five years, then in the Fire Service in Manchester and Cleveland, to lose your income suddenly and end up in the welfare system – I didn’t have a clue. I had no idea where to go or what was available, if anything. I just had no idea and if Citizens Advice hadn’t been there, my cancer journey would have been ten times harder.”

Pete Hill, 51, from Darlington, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and the financial stress of his cancer journey was relieved by a benefits welfare caseworker from Citizens Advice Darlington.

That benefits adviser is Louise Harland who, since 2008, has been working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support helping cancer patients across Darlington and Durham tackle the complex benefits system and has, in the last quarter of 2015 alone, helped cancer sufferers access more than £200,000 of benefits and grants they were entitled to, but may not otherwise have claimed.

Louise explains: “In 2008, Macmillan Cancer Support published a report, The Unclaimed Millions, which showed that £128m-worth of benefits were not being claimed by cancer sufferers. Thanks to a great deal work following that report, the people of Darlington now get the benefits, advice and grants they are entitled to.”

Louise met Pete on his ward at Darlington Memorial Hospital during the early stages of his cancer treatment. He said: “I didn’t understand what benefits were what or what Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Personal Independent Payment (PIP) was. “Without the service offered by Citizens Advice, and without Louise, I had no idea what was available – it’s as simple as that. I was able to talk about the financial worries. I had no idea how the system worked or what was out there.

“She talked to me about the benefits I could claim, she also told me about grants available and therapies. She signposted me to all the right places, helped with the forms and basically sorted everything out, did everything for us as a family and took away the worry.”

And that advice doesn’t end when the cancer treatment is over. Louise says: “Quite often after a cancer sufferer has finished their treatment they receive letters telling them that their benefits need to be reassessed and that they should be back at work. But more often than not, that is not possible. There are many lasting side effects following cancer and its treatment that impact on people’s daily lives. We continue to support people right through and take the stress away, so they can concentrate on their recovery.”

Pete confirms this is the case, because after his treatment, which included radiotherapy, chemotherapy and a major operation, Pete, who is still not fit for work, couldn’t return to the Fire Service, but Louise continued to support him through the benefit applications and various appeals. “The cancer had gone away, but I wasn’t well and I have a number of association health issues, but the benefits paperwork didn’t go away. I can’t go back to being a fireman. I manage my illness and am in pain every day.”

Wanting to give something back to the people and service that supported him, Pete now volunteers for Citizens Advice Darlington. “When I was in recovery I got involved in fundraising for Citizens Advice during their 75th anniversary year and then I decided to contribute more time and trained as an adviser. Without the advice I had been given, who knows how things might have turned out.

“Plus it’s a great place to work, a great bunch of people and, most of all, when you have helped someone, taken the weight off their shoulders, it’s a fantastic feeling. I’m not doing it for me. If you can make a difference to one person’s life, one person’s journey, it’s one of the best feelings ever.”

However, Citizens Advice Darlington is under threat after Darlington Borough Council announced it was cutting the service’s strategic grant of £104,825. Citizens Advice bosses have warned that the charity could close its doors for the final time within 12 months.

Pete’s passionate when he says: “If we lose the service it will be a massive injustice in Darlington. This is not a service to cut. Citizens Advice deals with everyone and everything. A lot of other organisations send people to us so we can sort out their problems. We can help with benefits, debt, relationship issues, employment, problems with landlords, tenants, tenancies, consumer issues – you name it, anything from Attendance Allowance to potholes and everything in between, Citizens Advice is the unknown superhero. “Without that service, where will people go? We prevent at least 500 people from being made homeless every year – what will happen when they now turn up on the council’s doorstep?”

Pete will be one of the 75-plus volunteers and 30 staff campaigning against the cuts. “I am a massive advocate for Citizens Advice. I tell everyone and anyone that if you have a problem, come to Citizens Advice. It’s a unique service because no one else offers the range of advice it does, and it’s free

“One of the main things I can draw from my journey from cancer to where I am today is that Citizens Advice gave me the ability to deal with my illness. The service took away the problems of dealing with the financial issues in my life. For five years I lived under the threat of a 50 per cent chance of living or dying, but for five years I did have Citizens Advice to support me.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Citizens Advice Darlington .