Since the pandemic began, many families and communities across the UK have been thrown into financial chaos. Over a quarter of households have faced a reduction in income (Bank of England); issues of unemployment, furlough, Universal Credit, bills and arrears have impacted millions of families.

Through an Allchurches Trust grant, the Just Finance Foundation was able to expand its COVID Cash Course, an information and signposting workshop, empowering churches and community leaders to help their communities through a train-the-trainer model. This has now benefited over 30,000 individuals in need of signposting, resources, and accessible financial information.

It’s a new year and a new lockdown.

You may be feeling worried, apathetic, angry or a mixture of many emotions.

Here are five (often forgotten about) ways that you could put pounds back into your pocket this lockdown, which we have taken from our COVID Cash Recovery course:

In Alford, a small Lincolnshire town 11 miles away from Skegness, a local community have been fighting back against COVID-19.

The ‘Alford Hub’, a support network with 90 volunteers, have been offering socially distant befriending, prescription delivery and other vital support to local people in Alford ever since the Coronavirus pandemic transformed our everyday lives in March.

A major expansion of Just Finance Foundation’s COVID Cash Course is set to enable a thousand churches and community organisations to deliver information and resources that will help 10,000 people tackle financial issues that have arisen due to the Coronavirus pandemic, potentially preventing a downward spiral in their circumstances.