Through Be Wise, Anchor’s free and impartial financial inclusion service, residents have been supported to maximise their income by receiving advice on matters such as benefits, energy bills, budgeting, income and expenditure, basic debt management advice and easing cost-of-living pressures.
Over 3500 residents have been supported by financial inclusion advisors from Be Wise to maximise their income for an estimated combined total of more than £6 million over the financial year with each resident gaining on average £8,000 each.
A Resident Support Fund made available through Anchor’s Be Wise service has also helped residents access a wide range of essential household items enabling them to buy food, pay energy bills and purchase home essentials such as carpets and white goods.
Gordon, an Anchor resident from Nottingham was struggling with the cost of living on a low income and contacted Be Wise for help. He credits the team for their professional guidance and support which he says was instrumental in helping him get to a place where he is now financially comfortable.
Gordon says:
I was receiving a state retirement pension of £184 per week and a small private pension of £18 per week. I contacted Be Wise and they awarded me £100 towards my energy costs and £60 towards food from the Resident Support Fund. My housing benefit and Council Tax support had stopped, and I was fearful I would lose my home. Be Wise stepped in and helped me.
They completed a full benefit check and made an application on my behalf for Attendance Allowance which was awarded at the lower rate of £68.10 per week and in addition this meant I received Pension Credit of £27 per week which also led to the cost-of-living payment of £300 and the Warm Home Discount payment of £150.
My Housing Benefit and Council Tax support were reinstated back to when they stopped at full eligibility. I now feel financially comfortable compared to when I started my journey.
I am so grateful to Be Wise for changing my life and helping me when I was in need. I could not have done it without them.
Sam Scotcher, Financial Inclusion Manager for Anchor said:
Gordon is just one of many examples of the Anchor residents we have supported through Be Wise. We are helping residents with a wide variety of their needs. Another resident had an injury at work, his employer had stopped paying him, he needed to claim benefits but had no IT skills or an email address. Through Anchor’s Be Wise service we were able to support him to make a claim for Universal Credit [UC] over the phone and provided him with food vouchers until his payments came through. We are currently assisting him with appealing his Personal Independent Payment which was initially rejected.
Anchor’s Be Wise service is free to all residents and its purpose is to assist those who are experiencing periods of hardship and to provide support where needed and to maximise their income.
We are a very diverse team, with colleagues from different ethnicities, faiths, age groups, gender and sexuality and those who speak different languages which enables us to reach a wide range of people and tailor our services to meet individual people’s needs.
Being a diverse team has hugely contributed to the success of the Be Wise team and helping residents save nearly £6 million since April 2024 enabling more people to enjoy later life.
Find out more about Be Wise
Anchor’s Be Wise service is part of its range of Be Well services, which help residents in a wide variety of ways including supporting financial and digital inclusion, physical activity and tackling loneliness.
Watch the below video to learn more about our wellbeing services.
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